A news presenter who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban threatened to kill him says he is unable to sleep from worry for his family in hiding in his homeland.
Sayed Sanai, a news anchor for Khurshid TV for seven years, is living in temporary accommodation for asylum seekers in Ireland.
He fled Afghanistan in August after two of his colleagues were killed by the Taliban in an explosion in Kabul and the terror group threatened his and his family’s life.
"The day after the explosion I received a phone call and message from the Taliban groups that said, 'You were our target. We will kill you as soon as possible. You will not be safe'," Mr Sanai told Irish broadcaster RTE.
Days later he escaped a shooting attack and his family went into hiding. He paid a contact €15,000 to get him on a plane to Turkey and then to safety in Dublin, where he sought help from the authorities.
Mr Sanai’s wife and 10-month-old son could not leave the country with him because they had no travel documents. He did not have the money to get them out the country any other way.
He said that he worried for their safety in such a dangerous situation. He said he was sleepless from worrying and one day without them feels “like 100 years”.
Mr Sanai has appealed for the Irish government’s help in dealing with his asylum case. He said he was optimistic that his family would be able to obtain visas to travel to Ireland.
