9 Oct 2023
Paws Unite People estimates it has spent tens of thousands of dollars to support the Operation Magic Carpet (OMC) group, as its legal and fund-raising work continues.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Some of the Mayhew team evacuated as part of Operation Magic Carpet from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
A group of Afghan veterinary professionals, and their dependants, are facing deportation within weeks despite significant progress to help them begin new lives overseas, a US charity has warned.
Paws Unite People (PUP) estimates it has spent tens of thousands of dollars to support the Operation Magic Carpet (OMC) group, as its legal and fund-raising work continues.
PUP said most of the group members now had legal papers enabling them to leave Pakistan, where they have been living since their evacuation following the Taliban takeover two years ago.
But, amid broader political instability in the country, the charity said they will be thrown out of the country if their situation is not fully resolved by 31 October.
PUP president Meredith Festa said: “It’s upsetting because we are so close to fixing all their problems. I’m pushing fund-raising hard.”
Out of the 58 people from the original OMC group that PUP has been supporting for the past year, the charity said only 11 were still waiting for the documentation they need.
All of the group remain in Pakistan, apart from two who are already working in Romania following an intervention by the Romania Animal Rescue charity.
Prior to revealing its deportation fears, PUP said it was hopeful that one family of seven, who needed to undertake embassy interviews and medical exams, would be able to leave for Canada in the next few months.
Three more families, comprising 17 people, have been awaiting processing for entry into the US, where it is hoped that a new system allowing people to sponsor refugees entering the country will help to speed up the process.
And another 19 people, from three other families, are said to be going through an interview process for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees referral to a permanent country of residence.
Ms Festa estimates that around US$85,000 has already been spent on meeting the OMC group’s rental, food, medical and documentation costs over the past year.
She paid tribute to the UK-based supporters who have backed their efforts over the past year, but said both politicians and veterinary sector leaders should have done more to address their plight.
Many of the professionals who were evacuated had been working for the UK animal welfare charity Mayhew, and groups including the BVA, BVNA and RCVS have previously urged ministers to allow them to come into the country.
Asked whether she felt PUP had been properly supported by either the veterinary sector or the UK Government, Ms Festa said: “Other than your publication (…) unfortunately no, we have had no support from either.
“We have had some help fund-raising from some amazing UK citizens, though. They have been so incredibly helpful, as this task we were handed was a big one. It’s all been everyday ‘little people’.”
A total of 92 people, plus five dogs and a cat, were evacuated to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in late 2021 after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the wake of the US-led military withdrawal from the country – 14 of them subsequently settled in France.
Last November, one of the vets left in Pakistan told Vet Times he and his compatriots had been “forgotten”, as fears grew that they could be evicted from their accommodation and sent back to Afghanistan.
There were also fears for the future of PUP’s own animal sanctuary because of a shortage of funds for it, the OMC group and another group of Afghan vets PUP has been helping, while Ms Festa revealed in February she was considering selling her own home to support the cause.
She has invited individuals and organisations who want to get involved to contact her.
But she also fears that the manner of the OMC group’s evacuation may also have triggered many of the challenges they have faced since then.
Ms Festa said: “These are all skilled people who have something to add to any community that accepts them. They needed documents. Once we started to get them, doors opened.”
Anyone able to help relocate any of the vets to the UK can email [email protected]
