NEW YORK: Stuck with no income for more than a year after fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan, Samiullah Jahesh was ready to sell his kidney to put food on the table for his family. “I had no other option, I had no money or food at home,” Jahesh, a former journalist with Afghanistan’s independent Ariana News TV channel, told CPJ.
Jahesh is one of many exiled Afghan journalists still in limbo more than 18 months after the Taliban seized power, forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to flee. Those who left included hundreds of journalists seeking refuge as the Taliban cracked down on the country’s previously vibrant independent media landscape.
While some journalists found shelter in Europe or the US, those unable to move beyond neighbouring Pakistan are in increasingly dire straits. Unable to find jobs without work authorization, their visas are running out as they struggle with the snail-paced process of resettlement to a third country.here.
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