Trapped in Kabul: New Scot tells of fears for wife caught in Taliban regime

The Glasgow taxi driver married “very beautiful, very smart” Tabasum in Afghanistan in March. The couple had met at a wedding while Zabidullah was visiting the country of his birth years prior and kept in touch over Whatsapp, their messages turning to romance.

Now she’s trapped in Kabul and desperate to reach him. “On our wedding day, I promised her a good life,” he tells the Sunday National, revealing an image of smiling faces from their wedding album. “I started applying for her visa, I got all the documents we needed. Now everything has changed.”

Music-loving Tabasum, her husband says, is a keen cook who’s “very caring”. He’s spent the last week on constant calls to her trying to reassure her amidst tears and stress. We’ve agreed not to show her face to avoid identifying her to anyone reading in Afghanistan.

READ MORE: Women and girls condemned once again to a nightmare by Taliban in Afghanistan

There’s no UK visa centre in that country, despite the UK’s long presence there, so Tabasum had to fly to Islamabad for her scheduled in-person appointment. That was on August 13 as the Taliban closed in on Kabul. They took control of the capital two days later.

Travelling with a sister and brother-in-law, Tabasum was unable to make her return flight as the airports had closed, and instead had to make an arduous journey by road.

In Glasgow, Zabidullah’s solicitors are pushing the Home Office for answers – what can they do to speed through the red tape and bring Tabasum here? But in Kabul, there are no answers. On Thursday evening Tabasum, 24, took her paperwork to the airport to seek safety inside the area still protected by remaining soldiers. She waited outside for four hours before eventually gaining access to see British representatives. After waiting overnight, she was sent away.

“She’s stressed, crying, saying ‘I don’t know what to do, where to go, the Taliban is coming,” 28-year-old Zabidullah (above) says. “I can’t work, I don’t feel like eating, I can’t sleep. Since March, everything has changed.”

Zabidullah came to the UK alone when he was just eight years old. His parents were missing amidst the Afghan war, his older brother was already here and, after many years, the two secured permissions to remain together in their adopted country of Scotland. Now 28, he’s grafted hard to establish an independent life here, working a succession of food industry jobs before switching to driving for a living. He’s now self-employed and, able to meet the UK Government’s immigration earnings requirements, he has ambitions for a prosperous future with his wife.

All he needs is for them to grant the spousal visa she needs to come to safety. “I’m doing my best,” he says. But the couple’s chance of reunion is entirely in the hands of the Government.

At his lawyer’s office, there’s frustration. Lisa McGuigan of McGlashan Mackay solicitors says they’re asking what the UK Government plans to do to ensure the application is processed quickly, and what assurances they can give Zabidullah that Tabasum and her family will be safe.

READ MORE: 'What was it for?': Scots turn out in pouring rain to demand aid for Afghanistan

But answers are in short supply and the Sunday National understands that while the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has set-up distinct enquiry routes for new immigration bids by “Afghan nationals who have worked for the UK” and others who “have not worked directly for the UK but have supported UK objectives”, there is no fast-track route for those who were already in the Home Office application system, despite the radical change in circumstances.

That department says it is unable to comment on “operational matters”, but is “working as quickly as possible to bring more people to safety in the United Kingdom”.

“Requests for a visa waiver are passed from FCDO to Border Force to rapidly assess and all cases are considered on their individual merits,” a spokesperson said. “This approach is in line with standard procedures for visa waivers in a crisis scenario, which can be issued to allow individuals into the country on compelling and compassionate grounds.”

However, Alison Thewliss MP says the visa system is “seriously inadequate.” Her Glasgow Central constituency is Scotland’s most diverse and she has a number of urgent Afghan cases, including Zabidullah’s. But she says the system is showing scant regard for the circumstances ordinary people have found themselves in. “Ministers must act urgently to expedite claims for those stuck in Afghanistan in order that they can be removed from danger,” she says.

“Mr Rasoli contacted my office to explain that his application to have his spouse join him in the UK is still pending a decision. Now his wife finds herself stranded in Afghanistan with scant reassurance about her safety.

“I have contacted the Home Office and ministers about this case, and others besides, to ask that they do everything in their power to move fast, and help those stranded in Afghanistan before it is too late.”

Meanwhile, McGuigan says her firm is “disappointed with what appears to be a generic response from the Home Office” to the Sunday National.

“Whilst we appreciate they will be inundated with enquiries, we believe that this case will be different from many other enquiries the Home Office is receiving as our client has already made an entry clearance application for his wife to come to the UK,” she says.

“We would have appreciated a response that was specific to our client’s case as the welfare and safety of his wife and her family are his number one priority at the moment.

“Our client and his wife meet all the requirements of the visa and we see no reason why it should not be granted and more importantly, no reason why their application should not be expedited especially given this is a world wide humanitarian crisis.

“We would expect the Home Office to prioritise applications from Afghanistan at this time.

“We are still awaiting a response from the Home Office.”