Journalists, activists slam evacuees for faking their professions

The Afghanistan Civil Society And Journalist Group has lashed out at Afghans who have tried to evacuate under the guise of being journalists and civil society activists.

The group’s officials say that although most journalists have chosen to stay in Afghanistan, the actions by civilians pretending to be journalists and activists is an insult to the media and to media workers.

Journalists in turn have also spoken out against foreign countries for not vetting applicants properly, which has enabled scores of people to leave the country posing as journalists.

While all Afghans have the right to travel abroad, thousands of people reportedly produced fake documents that got them safe passage to foreign countries.

Civil society groups and journalists see the move as a blatant insult and say a distinction must be made between real journalists and fake journalists, as many journalists want to stay in their country and continue working.

“Interestingly, out of thirty-four million people, nine million have introduced themselves as journalists, which is an obvious insult to journalists, and journalists are the voice of the people, and journalists value everyone, and the identities were not checked during evacuation.

“It was a tragedy and the responsibility lies with the world,” said Nasir Ahmad Akhtarzai, head of Afghanistan Civil Society And Journalist Group.

“The international community has evacuated journalists and civil activists from Afghanistan, and the Islamic Emirate must prosecute those involved in forging journalists documents,” said Frozan Khalilyar, a female activist.

The Afghanistan Civil Society And Journalist Group, meanwhile, insists that people have forged press cards and media documents in exchange for money.

At the same time, a number of journalists said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should provide the necessary ground for media activities to continue.

“With the support of the Islamic Emirate, the media coverage space should not be limited, because most journalists, especially women, have resigned, most journalists are present in Afghanistan and others have left the country in the name of journalists,” said Farkhunda Mohibi, a journalist.

“The system must have a clear strategy for freedom of expression and journalistic activities and partner with the media, because there is a great concern that many people have abused the name of the journalist and gone abroad,” said Sarajuddin Patan, a journalist.

However, these civil activists and journalists emphasize that this concern has no political aspect and the main purpose is to identify real and fake journalists; and they called on the international community to assess documents of those who have been evacuated to foreign countries claiming to be journalists.

This comes after Bloomberg News reported that Kam Air, a private Afghan airline, evacuated at least 155 relatives of Kam Air executives to Abu Dhabi on a flight meant for journalists and activists.

According to the report, relatives of the airline’s leadership were crammed into the half-empty plane at the last moment.

After the plane landed in the United Arab Emirates, the US State Department discovered the evacuees were not on the list, according to the report.

Officials at Kam Air denied the claims, saying the company was not picking evacuees. The company was only responsible for transferring them, they said.

“We had only two flights–to Abu Dhabi and Tbilisi. They went according to the list. Because many people remain in Afghanistan, they make these claims that Kam Air took some families and relatives,” said Mohammad Dawood Sharifi, Kam Air chief executive.

The passengers who were allegedly not on the list are reportedly still in Abu Dhabi and their fate is uncertain.