At DFW’s international arrivals gate Tuesday, months of fear and uncertainty ended with an emotional reunion as a Frisco woman welcomed her sister and three young nephews who were able to escape the Taliban.
“I think my tears explain everything. It means the world to me that she’s here,” said Atefa Sharifi.
Sharifi, a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. State Department came to Frisco on a special immigrant visa nine years ago.
After the U.S. withdrew the last of its troops from her homeland and the Taliban seized power, Atefa worked tirelessly, first to bring her teenage son Saeed to the States.
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After he arrived last October, she turned her focus to her sister Latifa Sharifi and her three boys.
" I want to say thank you to the team that helped me get out of Afghanistan,” said Latifa Sharifi.
As a human rights attorney, Latifa was recognized last year by the International Association of Lawyers and LexisNexis for her work fighting for the freedom of women and young girls.
She was the first woman in Asia and the first person ever from Afghanistan to receive the group’s Rule of Law Award, an honor previously bestowed on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But though Latifa’s work has been recognized at the highest levels of her profession, it also made her a prime Taliban target.
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She also feared for her family's safety because of prisoners released by the Taliban, many of whom she once prosecuted.
"I wasn't able to think that I would make it out of the country and I had this fear,” she said.
In one attempt, her youngest was trampled in a crowd trying to catch one of the last flight’s out of Kabul.
Latifa became resigned to running with her family from one safe house to the next, eventually parting with her husband and making a harrowing escape to Spain.
Last month, thanks to an army of supporters, the U.S. finally granted her application for humanitarian parole.
Her family said among them were philanthropists, veterans, members of the military and the international legal community.
"She has been through so much struggle, so much tough time with her three kids that I want to give her as much convenience and good and a pleasing time here so that she forgets all those bad memories,” said Atefa.
Once settled, Latifa said she'll resume her work, not just for loved ones left behind, but also for the women and young girls the Taliban has stripped of fundamental rights.
