TIRANA, Albania: A group of people evacuated from Afghanistan as the Taliban returned to power last year held a protest Wednesday in Albania over the failure to expedite their move to the United States.
A small group of families in Shengjin, a town located 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Albania’s capital, Tirana, called on the US to speed up the process of their transfer. Some women and children held posters reading, “We are forgotten.”
Some 2,400 Afghans were evacuated to Albania in August and September 2021 and given temporary shelter in Shengjin and another resort town, Durres.
Non-governmental organizations from United States and other countries provided financial support for accommodating them.
The Albanian government said at the time that it would house thousands of Afghans for at least a year before they moved to the United States for final settlement. More recently, the government pledged to keep them for longer than a year if their US visas were delayed.
The Foreign Ministry says 900 of the evacuees remain in Albania. Those no longer in the European country went to the US and Canada.
Bledar Shima, the manager of a resort in Shengjin sheltering 350 Afghans, said the property has not been paid for six months. Shima urged the Albanian government to intervene, according to private TV station Top Channel.
Afghans evacuated to Albania protest for faster move to US
https://arab.news/58u8v
Afghans evacuated to Albania protest for faster move to US
- Some 2,400 Afghans were evacuated to Albania in August and September 2021
- Non-governmental organizations from United States and other countries provided financial support for accommodating them
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
