How did the Qatar Charity deal with the challenges?
Qatar Charity has been appointed for providing alternative care and various support to Afghan children who have been separated from their family members.
In a short while, the foundation, in cooperation with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNICEF and the IOM, developed standards and procedures to establish a system of collective alternative care based on family values and protection to ensure the safety and well-being of the children.
Qatar Charity succeeded in recruiting 261 volunteers who received full training to qualify them for care tasks. Over time, Qatar Charity provided full care for the children, with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, psychologists, social workers and partner agencies.
Finally, after seven months, the foundation successfully concluded the task of taking care of Afghan children after reuniting every single child with their families.
How did Qatar help reunite Afghan children with their families?
Qatar’s great efforts to evacuate Afghans from their country to Doha
Went further when the Qatari institution looked after about 260 young Afghans who arrived in Qatar without their families. Upon their arrival in a care center sponsored by Qatar Charity, the foundation provided them with shelter, food, mental and physical care, and also ensured that they were reunited with their families as soon as possible.
Reuniting the Vice President of the Afghan Parliament with her daughters
On August 31, 2021, Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Al Khater announced the arrival of Fawzia Koofi, the former Vice President of the Afghan Assembly, to Doha, to be reunited with her two daughters who were earlier evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar. Al Khater expressed in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, her happiness about Kofi’s reunion with her daughters.
Reuniting an Afghan girl with her family after a year and a half of separation
Baby Alisa lost her parents while the family was trying to leave Kabul airport. She was only one month old by then, but the child boarded an American-Qatari evacuation flight and was separated from her siblings. However, their uncle later succeeded in finding them through social media.
Once she arrived in Doha, Alisa was transferred to an orphanage center in the city. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated with the IOM and UNICEF to find her family, and when they succeeded, a DNA test was sent to Kabul to confirm the relationship.
In March 2023, Alisa reunited with her family including her brothers, uncle, and aunts.
Reuniting an Afghan child with his father in Canada
On August 28, 2021, Kabul airport was bombed, and the family of the child Ali thought that he had been killed that day. In fact, he had moved with others to Qatar, which took him in after he miraculously survived the bombing. In coordination between the Qatari and Canadian governments, Ali was transferred to Toronto, Canada, to meet his father after two weeks of separation.
“Ali was a guest in Qatar after being separated from his mother following the Kabul airport explosion. All of our hearts are attached to him, and thank God we were able to reunite him with his father in Canada in cooperation with the Canadian Embassy,” said Lolwah Al Khater in a tweet on X, previously Twitter. She also added, “We thank the Dreama Center for caring for him and embracing him, and we wish Ali, whom we will miss very much, success. We also hope that he will visit us again in Doha.”
The story of Somaya
The child Somaya’s family sought to leave Afghanistan, but they were unable to reach the planes, and thus only Somaya arrived in Qatar. At the reception center in Doha, run by Qatar Charity, UNICEF and the IOM, UNICEF teams saw a Facebook post involving a photo of Somaya as missing from her family. Immediately, Somaya’s family was contacted to reassure them that Somaya was in safe hands, and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would work with the Embassy of Finland to grant the child an entry visa to Finland, where her grandmother lives.
After months of diplomatic work between the Qatari Foreign Ministry, the Finnish Embassy in Doha, and the Taliban, and with the support of Qatar Charity, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs was able to coordinate with Afghanistan to issue passports to all six members of Somaya’s family. Thus, Qatar was able to evacuate her family to Doha where they were all reunited for a few days, before leaving together to start over a new life in Finland.
Reuniting an Afghan mother and her daughter
On November 14, 2021, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a tweet on X, saying, “The war separated them, but Qatar brought them together: An Afghan mother and her daughter are reunited at the temporary residence of the Afghan refugees in the Qatari capital, Doha.”
Qatar Charity celebrates the reunion of the last three Afghan children
Qatar Charity celebrated the reunion of the last three Afghan children with their families in Doha, after a seven-month separation. Capably, Qatar Charity completed the job of fostering 260 Afghan children and minors who were separated from their family members.
