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Escaped from Taliban: National Geographic's Afghan girl 'granted asylum in Italy
Scrabble exile, whose picture on the cover of the magazine from 1985 became a symbol of the country's wars, was granted asylum in Italy.
In 2016 she was arrested and deported from Pakistan when she tried to forge an identity card in order to live in the country
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Afghanistan
Taliban
Italy
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Sunday, 28 November 2021, 22:44
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(Photo: AP)
Italy gave refuge to the exiled scribble, the green-eyed "Afghan girl" whose picture on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985 became a symbol of the country's wars. A statement from the Italian prime minister's office said Rome had complied with the Diaspora's request to leave Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country in August. The announcement, made last Thursday, states that her arrival is part of a broader plan to evacuate Afghan citizens and integrate them into the country.
American photographer Steve McCurry photographed her exile in her youth while in a refugee camp on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Her penetrating green eyes, which peeked out of her head covering and radiated a combination of savagery and pain, made her face known around the world, but her identity was only revealed in 2002 when the photographer returned to the area and followed in her footsteps.
National Geographic was then told that her identity was verified by an FBI expert, Pasal Forensi and the inventor of the iris detection system.
In 2016, Pakistan arrested Gola for forging an identity card in order to live in the country.
Then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed her back and promised to give her a home to ensure she "lives with dignity and security in her homeland."
Gani was ousted from power in August, however, and many women in Afghanistan fear a return to the Taliban's regime of terror in the 1990s.
Taliban leaders have said on their return to power that they will respect women's rights in accordance with Sharia law, but millions of girls have since stopped attending schools and further restrictions have been placed on women.
Italy was one of several Western countries that evacuated hundreds of Afghans following the withdrawal of American forces in the summer.
A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said: "The image of the Diaspora symbolizes the upheavals and conflicts that Afghanistan and its people went through at the time."
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(Photo: AP)
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