Help rescue LGBTQ Afghan refugees

The security of Afghanistan's LGBTQ+ community deteriorated dramatically following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Roshaniya has identified nearly 2000 LGBTQ+ Afghans for safe evacuation, and we have so far helped 252 LGBTQ+ Afghans reach safety in Oman or other western countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Oman, and Spain.

Under the Taliban, there is absolutely no tolerance for the existence of LGBTQ+ people. Mullah Gul Rahim, the Taliban Judge, has vowed that gay people can expect to be stoned or toppled by 10 to 15 foot walls. Since the fall of Kabul:

-Neighbors and relatives are reporting LGBTQ+ Afghans to the Taliban to gain social credit under their new regime. 

-The Taliban have carried out house searches for LGBTQ+ people on their hit list.

-The Taliban have detained and arrested LGBTQ+ Afghans and tortured them severely while in prison. 

-LGBTQ+ Afghans have been abducted, tortured, and killed by the Taliban.

 

The list of LGBTQ+ Afghan evacuees that Roshaniya is helping constitute all strata of Afghan society: artists, cashiers, engineers, doctors, goldsmiths, hair designers, teachers, journalists, make-up artists, flight attendants, pilots, talk shows hosts, university students, and wedding dancers. The vast majority of the LGBTQ+ Afghans on Roshaniya's evacuation list were born after the year 2000 and have no memory have of the the first Taliban rule or the September 11 attacks.

If LGBTQ+ people do not have the adequate resources to survive and get their asylum cases properly heard then they risk death or being deported. Every one of these individuals on the manifest have been vetted. Please share widely and far.

Funds will be used to help LGBT+ Afghans obtain documents (passports and visas for neighboring countries) and pay for their travel costs to evacuate from Afghanistan.

We will be sharing periodic updates about their progress and whereabouts. 

The US has its allies abandoned LGBTQ+ Afghans by failing to evacuate members of the community before withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. This is the moment for the international community to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Afghans.

Every donation counts and will help us help LGBTQ+ Afghans escape the persecution of the Taliban regime. The money will be spent to help them get passports, visas to neighboring countries, pay for the passage out of the country, for housing accommodations, and to pay for airplane tickets to their final destination once they have received humanitarian visas. 

With the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Afghanistan seriously threatened, there is no time to waste.

We need your support. Please act now.

Here's a link to the LinkedIn profile of Roshaniya's CEO Nemat Sadat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nematsadat/