Afghan Jawad Ahmadi was a local employee by the Swedish Armed Forces but was left when other Afghans were evacuated.
But now Jawad, his wife and five children have come to Sweden, thanks to a private collection.
– The government shows that it is not impossible to help those who have worked for Sweden, says Swedish Afghanist veteran Björn Blanck.
After the Taliban took power in 2021, Swedish authorities evacuated several persons who worked for the Armed Forces in northern Afghanistan. But the Ahmadi family remained under the rule of the notorious Taliban.
For several years, the family has tried to hide that Jawad has worked with the Swedish military, as the threats have been great against everyone with connection to foreign forces.
– I have avoided even taking my mouth that I worked for the Swedes, but there has been a great fear that they would know it, he says.
“Missing a government decision”
Jawad worked as a janitor for five years at the Swedish base Camp Northern Light in Mazar-I-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. He and his family are one of three families who have been so -called made by the Migration Board, which means that their case can be tested if they go to a third country. It has been impossible on its own.
For Swedish Afghanistan veteran Björn Blanck, it was not conceivable to turn his Afghan colleagues back. A few years ago he started a fundraiser to help the families out of Afghanistan.
Thanks to this, the family, with the help of an international organization, has been able to safely get to Pakistan, and have been able to contact Swedish authorities there. Last Tuesday they landed on Swedish soil.
– Other countries have lifted thousands of people. Sweden has around a hundred people left to help, and it is quite possible to do shows this, what is missing is a government decision, says Björn Blanck, who hopes that the rest will also come to Sweden.
Jawad Ahmadi
Jawad Ahmadi
Photo: TV4 News
Track a brilliant future
For Jawad’s daughter Narges, 17, life can start again. Since the Taliban took back power, she has not been able to go to school and her dreams of becoming an engineer had to be hidden.
– Our future in Sweden will be brilliant because we can finally reach our dreams by working hard, she says hopefully.
Now the family’s establishment begins in the new country. Despite the long wait, Jawad is relieved.
– We are very happy and we feel calm. We are grateful that Sweden has received us and hope that more people in the same situation will get to safety.