the country faces serious challenges requiring immediate government action. now on bbc news fleeing afghanistan: free to be me. after a top secret evacuation, we follow a group of lg btq+ afghans settling in the uk. joe biden: i ve concluded that it s time to end - america s longest war. it s time for american troops to come home. as us, uk and nato forces leave afghanistan, the taliban tightens its grip and a humanitarian crisis unfolds. out of afghanistan because it was the only chance to stay alive. so, fighting, stressful. there was lots of broken cars all over the airport and there was nothing just a gate to go into the plane. gunfire people were running towards the aircraft, the airport. - there were soldiers| keeping people out. gunfire the taliban, who were beating up people with sticks, - with wires, whatever they had, and they were shooting - on the ground and on the air. like the end of the world in the hollywood movies! i can t describe what the scene was li
And there was nothing just a gate to go into the plane. gunfire people were running towards the aircraft, the airport. - there were soldiers| keeping people out. gunfire the taliban, who were beating up people with sticks, - with wires, whatever they had, and they were shooting - on the ground and on the air. like the end of the world in the hollywood movies! i can t describe what the scene was like. i i have been beaten many times for the way i am. the taliban s interpretation of sharia law means homosexuality is punishable by death. they kill me by stone or maybe killed by fire, maybe hanging. they executed a trans person in kabul. - were you afraid of being killed? yes, many times. what will happen to me? what will have the future for me?
You are safe here, no one will arrest or kill you because of who you are, but you still have to be careful when you meet people. they say we want to visit your home! ithink, please, take coffee or a drink. no, we just want to hook up. people have no patience. just try to start a different social life so you are notjust on your own at home. that s when you are going on grindr to talk to people. last august, the taliban seized control of afghanistan s capital in just ten days, taking governments around the world by surprise. there are no lgbtq+ organisations in afghanistan. we had to tell these people that they were going to have to keep hiding in this incredibly dangerous situation.
For what reason you want to leave? i was hiding in a small room, desperately looking for some way to get out. they had to leave their families. people who are in hiding and had been in hiding for many weeks now. people who are running out of food. those moments when they were travelling were always nervous ones. were the people going to be able to make it to fly or to cross the border? i choose the risk because if i will stay at my home country, i am faced with my death. just the most desperate thing. completely, almost physical, sense of the risk. gunfire i was taking calls and messages through the night. how am i going to get - inside the airport because of the security, becausej of the battery brigade of the taliban that was - actually guarding the airport? you have to go in simple . clothing afghan clothing. try to act as a common guyi as much as possible and say
Many people who don t make it out are forced into hiding. they wait and hope for survival. a secret operation to get some of the most vulnerable to safety begins. we started getting e mails out of the blue from kind of desperate lgbtq+ afghan people, just looking, anywhere all around the world for someone who could help them. kind of like getting a message in a bottle. it was very clear as we were looking at events unfold during august in kabul that we would have to support those who might be at risk and those who are in need. when the taliban came, | they said, we are going to look for these lgbt people . they had names and they had addresses. | they are searching our body and passports and visas. are you like a spy- for the former government? have you worked with nato?