Some Afghans using fake media documents to flee the country

Hundreds of Afghans used fake documents to prove their association with a particular media outlet in Afghanistan to flee the country, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

The trend of fake documentation to show a particular individual worked in a designated media outlet in Afghanistan accelerated after the US launched evacuation process of Afghans.

After the fall of Ashraf Ghani government on August 15, thousands of Afghans stormed the Kabul Airport in a quest to flee to a foreign country.

It is worth mentioning that so far over 110,000 people have been evacuated and the process is underway, the report said.


Insecurity, poverty, loss of job, uncertain future for girls and women and some other reasons prompted a number of Afghans to flee the country in the US-led evacuation process, the report said.

Some media outlets and civil society organizations in Afghanistan have started offering fake documents -- employment card, HR letter, experience letter, recommendation letter and other relevant documents and even they are campaigning to provide fake documents in social media pages, the report added.

An employee of an embassy who wished to go unnamed, said, "I know a large number of journalists who stay in Afghanistan; but hundreds of other people traveled abroad in the name of journalists using fake documents, one of my relative is an example who did not study journalism and did not work with media; but former defence ministry spokesman, Fawad Aman, made cards for two shopkeepers who are now in the US."


He said that a lot of fakery was involved in making documents for people trying to go abroad. Associations of journalists are also involved in this, he added.

"Many people used their relations, even local radio stations which broadcast on the rural area are misused for this. These media outlets provided HR letters as well as ID cards for their relatives and friends to help them escape. Most of government officials who had relations with media referred to media such as journalists associations, including Nai office, for HR letter," the source said, as per the report - IANS