As an archivist and technical officer with the Afghan Government, Eshaq Yaqubi worked in a prestigious job just metres away from the office of the last elected president of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
But it was that proximity to the centre of power that put a target on his back when the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021.
After a two year ordeal which saw Mr Yaqubi and his family hide in basements, sneak across the Pakistan border and languish in overcrowded refugee camps, they have resettled in Dandenong North where they are rebuilding their lives.
Mr Yaqubi said he felt fleeing Afghanistan was his family’s only option after the Taliban dramatically seized control of the country.
“I had experience working with US forces and companies and I had worked in the President’s office for some years, so it was clear that we had to leave or we would have become targets of the Taliban,” he said.
The entire family, wife Masoma, two young daughters Mahla and Mahdia, and his mother Khadija Adeli , spent two months in hiding in Kabul waiting for visas and flight details from the embassy of the UAE.
“But with the Taliban in control of the airport, there were not flights we could get on,” Mr Yaqubi said forcing them into hiding.
“We found a cellar underneath a building in Kabul where we lived quietly.
“Eventually we went to Pakistan overland where we were able to get visas and flights to Abu Dhabi.”
The trip to Pakistan was difficult with security checks and chaos at the border crossing but the family were able to pay some people to get the family across.
Mr Yaqubi had worked in the Presidential Palace in the archive section, close to the office of President Ashraf Ghani. He remembers vividly the day the city and palace fell to the Taliban.
“When the Taliban came to Kabul, I was in my office and left around 12pm around the same time I was told the President left the country, and so I headed home.
“An hour or so later the Taliban came and took control of the palace. I left the office with some of my colleagues but there was confusion on the street.
“I was very worried. There were people moving around in the public places but no one really knew what to do or where to go.
“Most of the government military forces had left their posts and run away and the Taliban had surrounded Kabul.
“On my way home, my sister, mother and wife called me asking where I was but I couldn’t find a taxi or a car to get home.
“After about two or three hours I got home and was told the Taliban had taken control of the ARG Palace.
“Everyone was very worried about the situation. We all knew what the Taliban had done the last time they were in power – they killed a lot of people.
“In Kabul, in particular, there were so many government, foreign NGO and military employees who were at risk.”
When he arrived home, Mr Yaqubi realised the Presidential Security Force had all of the staff personal information stored in the palace – including his ID documents, address and other personal details.
“So, the day after the fall of Kabul, the 16th, we changed addresses,” he said.
“Some of our neighbours who lived in our street were arrested. We don’t know what happened to them.
“After we left Afghanistan and reached Abu Dhabi we were told about a family we knew at the last place we had lived in Kabul.
“They had three sons. One of them was a university student who just disappeared one day. Three weeks later the family found him dead. He had been burned and his body dismembered.
“The family asked the Taliban who had done this, they didn’t respond. It was terrible, the son was just a student he wasn’t involved with anything political.”
Mr Yaqubi fears for his homeland like many other Afghan nationals and also for the family members left behind.
“There is no future for people in Afghanistan. Day by day, the Taliban repress people more harshly, especially women. They can’t work, play sport or participate in social activities,” he said.
“My father and three sisters are in danger because the Taliban are searching for them. One of my sisters was active in women’s sport.
“She was part of a group that were secretly playing sport and exercising but the Taliban found out and threatened them.”
As Mr Yaqubi starts from scratch in Dandenong for a brighter future for his family, he’s also applied for humanitarian visas for his family still in Afghanistan.
The family have been well supported since their arrival as Mr Yaqubi struggles to find employment.
“Since we came to Australia everything has been very good for us. We have been supported by AMES Australia.
“Everything was arranged for us and we are all happy and look forward to getting on with our lives in Australia.
“It’s difficult to find work in my field as archivist so I would like to find a job in construction, in which I also have experience.”
Anyone with an employment opportunity for Mr Yaqubi can contact AMES Australia on 0498 196 500.
