Author’s note: Certain details and locations have been left out of print to ensure the security and safety of individuals and organizations.
Annie Perry is a human rights attorney with deep roots in the Roaring Fork Valley. She is the great-granddaughter of David Robinson Crocker Brown, who came to Aspen in the 1880s and became an influential figure in the town’s silver-mining days.
“My mom instilled in me the belief that if you can volunteer, you should,” Perry told The Sopris Sun, and to “find what you do best.”
Her line of work has led her to mentor Fereshta, a woman from a far-off land. Originally from Afghanistan, Fereshta’s story is harrowing, full of resilience and, unfortunately, all too familiar to women in that country. Currently residing in Greece, Fereshta, her husband, Israr, and their 2-year-old daughter are working with Perry to apply for humanitarian parole in Germany — a temporary entry permit for noncitizens to enter a country due to urgent humanitarian concerns or for a significant public benefit.
The two met through a nonprofit in 2020, which connected women from Afghanistan with American-
women lawyers.
“When [Fereshta] was a young child under Taliban rule, her mom would not accept that her daughters couldn’t go to school,” Perry explained. “So, like many Afghan parents in the late ‘90s and before the U.S. invaded, they operated secret schools to try to educate their daughters. When the U.S. invaded and the Taliban fell, it meant Fereshta got to go to high school.”
She described Fereshta as one of the lucky women who received an education during a time of turmoil and oppression. For roughly two decades, women in Afghanistan were permitted to receive an education and hold high-ranking positions — such as that of lawyers, judges and police chiefs. However, that door closed when the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August of 2021.
“Afghanistan, I have always found fascinating. If you look at the history, there has always been a lot going on there. As it sits now, yet again, the future of Afghan women is uncertain,” Perry asserted. “Are they ever going to be able to take part in growing and strengthening their country?”
Fereshta later cared for her father, a retired doctor with whom she once worked with at the same hospital. She worked with a midwifery program and translated for Doctors without Borders.
In November 2020, Fereshta missed several meetings and communications with Perry, which was unusual and caused Perry to worry. When Fereshta reappeared, she reported that she had been kidnapped and held hostage by the Taliban for 10 days.
The reason? She had insulted a high-ranking official of the Taliban over a decade before. How so? For not properly greeting the man when he came into the hospital where she was working. Even after her father suggested that she apologize, she would not.
“Fifteen years they held that grudge against her and looked for her — to kill her,” stated Perry. “I don’t even know how to look at that mindset, to understand it.”
After escaping with the help of Israr, her family received two letters from the Taliban. Both made threats on their lives for the perceived insult. So she and her husband left all they knew behind for the sake of their and their families’ lives.
They paid smugglers to help them flee Afghanistan. It was a difficult journey as the smugglers demanded more money, and tortured Israr to get it, before dumping them near the Turkish border. They were then detained for 10 days before being released into Eastern Turkey. As part of their release conditions, they were not allowed to leave this area — ultimately becoming trapped.
“Our relationship, at first, was me pushing her hard to improve her English,” Perry recalled. “After her kidnapping, it became me figuring out how to help her and her family recover from that trauma. I think the stress of the years in Turkey has worn on her.”
She welcomed her daughter in 2022 as the family fought to escape Turkey. Fereshta and her family attempted to leave the country on five separate occasions and withstood many lengthy bouts in detention camps under the Turkish immigration authorities. As of November 2024, they were granted asylum in Greece.
“This is the first time in forever that I have had hope that Fereshta and Israr will be able to pick up their studies again,” said Perry. “These two can do amazing things. They need the opportunity. Fereshta would like to become a lawyer, and Israr wants to study engineering. Being trapped in Turkey for as long as they were, there was no future. They couldn’t work legally. There was nothing.”
Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees in the world — close to four-million people.
“Turkey is like a black hole right now for people fleeing threats of murder in their own country. There is no legal path to escape from Turkey. It’s like a giant prison, and the situation is dire,” Perry explained.
Thankfully, Fereshta and her budding nuclear family are safe, but their journey is not over.
If you would like to contribute to help Fereshta and her family or to stay updated about their journey, please visit www.tinyurl.com/JourneytoGermany
For more information on how to aid Afghanistan women, Perry recommended these two websites: www.womenforafghanwomen.org and www.sahareducation.org