Runaway Afghan Soldiers Plead for Asylum in Court Amid Taliban Death Threats
The three Afghanistan National Army officers who fled a US joint military exercise on Cape Cod two weeks ago appeared in immigration court on Wednesday to argue for asylum, and revealed they face death threats from the Taliban back in their home country.
The men, identified as Major Jan Arash, Captain Mohammad Nasir Askarzada and Captain Noorullah Aminyar, are being held without bond in a federal immigration detention center in Batavia, NY. Their attorney, Matthew Borowski, pleaded for both their release and asylum in the preliminary court proceedings.
“They just don’t want to go back to Afghanistan. They don’t want to die,’’ Borowski said in court, according to WIVB. “They’re not charged with any criminal charge. These are just immigration violations. They’re just charged with being here without a valid visa.’’
Two weeks ago, the three senior military officers were cleared by the State Department to participate in joint exercises with the US military at Cape Cod’s Camp Edwards. During the trip, Aminyar said he was told by a family member back home that the Taliban was looking for Aminyar.
“Their leaders, they give the orders to kill me,’’ Aminyar told The Boston Globe. “My father told me the story, ‘They will find you and they will kill you.’
Aminyar told Askarzada, and the two then set up a plan to escape to Canada and seek asylum. They watched a YouTube video of people crossing the border to gain a better understanding of how to flee, The Globe reported.
On September 20, a large group of soldiers went to the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis, and Aminyar and Askarzada split off to make their escape during unsupervised time. Arash followed them and joined in their escape plan. From there, they spent at least $1600 on taxis to make the trip up to a border point at Niagara Falls. There, they were caught and arrested by border patrol agents.
The US government has denied the soldiers bail, and their hearing will continue on October 8.
“They were allies of the U.S.,’’ Borowski said in court. “They fought side-by-side with our soldiers for many years. They’ve done a lot for the Americans in Afghanistan. Now that their lives are threatened, they’re just asking for safe haven.’’
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