„The ESL teachers are highly visible targets…many of them having received death threats,“ said a U.S. academic trying to help them.
Dozens of English teachers and their families in Afghanistan fear for their safety and hope to evacuate the country, but remain stranded without resources and adequate support to escape from the country in the wake of the Taliban ’s swift takeover last month. The Taliban regained near total control of Afghanistan in mid-August, resulting in a dramatic evacuation led by the U.S. military of over 122,000 Americans, green card holders, U.S. allies and Afghans who worked with America and its allies during the two decades-long Afghanistan War. But many Afghans, and some Americans, were unable to evacuate before t he full withdrawal of U.S. forces. In the case of the Afghan English teachers—who are in direct communication with several U.S. academics who spoke to Newsweek —some were attempting to complete the Priority 2 (P-2) under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program through the State Department prior to the troop withdrawal. However, with the U.S. completely out of the country, they are stuck without resources to finish the process or leave Afghanistan. „These teachers were the public faces of their language centers and are now being harassed and threatened, or at minimum fired and told they no longer have a way to earn their living. Several have received death threats—a few on official Taliban letterhead,“ Laura Holland, a senior Instructor at the American English Institute at the University of Oregon, told Newsweek. Holland first connected with many of the Afghan English teachers through a program during the summer in which she met and taught them English as a second language (ESL) teaching methods through virtual lessons. She and other academics in the U.S. remain in contact with the group of more than 50 Afghans through a secure channel, where the teachers express their daily fears and concerns for their uncertain futures. „The ESL teachers are highly visible targets in their communities with known association and ties to the United States. They are in hiding with many of them having received death threats, and many of their Language Centers trashed and they were told they are not allowed to work anymore,“ Kara Lawrence, a PhD student at the Department of Public Administration in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University, told Newsweek.
