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'The situation is very difficult for Afghan women'

Almas Ipswich Feriba Almas wearing a black hijab and a green blazer. She is looking into the camera and not smiling Almas Ipswich
Feriba Almas had to flee Afghanistan because she was receiving death threats from the Taliban

An Afghan police officer who fled to the UK after she received death threats from the Taliban said that attending a community group had helped her connect with other women in the area.

Almas Ipswich is a free support group for Afghan women and children which has been running for the past five weeks in Wellington Family Hub in Ipswich.

Feriba Almas, 25, left Afghanistan because of her job in 2022. She said: "I find this group really important. I feel at home in the Almas group because lots of women come together."

The word Almas means diamond in Persian and the group considered it an appropriate name because the gemstone is formed under pressure.

Almas Ipswich A group of women sitting around a table. Some women are wearing hijabs and there is tea and food on the table Almas Ipswich
Afghanistan women have been coming together to share their memories of home at a workshop in Ipswich

The community group was co-founded by Rona Panjsheri, from Afghanistan, and the British artist Hannah Aria. It has been funded by Suffolk Archives to run for six weeks.

Ms Almas said: "In my culture, people didn't like women going into the police."

Yet as a little girl, Ms Almas said: "When I grow up I will be a police officer, I wanted to help people."

She added that women in Afghanistan "don't have any life, we are safe here and we can go to school and college, but they don't have a choice and the situation is very difficult for women".

She said while she was living in England she wanted to finish her education and become a police officer in the UK.

Almas Ispwich Rona Panjsheri has her hair in a ponytail and is smiling at the camera. She is wearing turquoise drop earrings and glasses on her head. In the background are other women sitting around a table. Almas Ispwich
Rona Panjsheri said it was important for women to have spaces where they could talk to and integrate with others

Ms Panjsheri, who settled in the UK in 2013, said the aim of the workshop was to help Afghan women integrate more with each other.

"Lots of women don't want to come out and they feel very isolated, especially Afghan women," she said.

"I believe love doesn't need language, we need to be more integrated... we have lots of things in common.

"I feel very proud when I see Afghan women laughing together.

"Afghanistan is a country full of tribes and ethnic groups, so we wanted to be together and understand each other."

One workshop had asked the attendees to bring an item that reminded them of home, to encourage the women to share their stories. Ms Panjsheri said: "In Afghanistan, we never share stories.

"If we talk more about the situation of women, we can be together and help each other."

Almas Ipswich Hannah Aria has blonde hair and wearing a black top, she is smiling at the camera. In the background a few women are sat together talking. Almas Ipswich
Hannah Aria is a co-founder of the group and said it was a beautiful way to meet new people

Ms Aria said the women had gone to the park together and taken part in painting workshops since receiving funding.

Ms Aria said: "Language wasn't a barrier, it was just beautiful, it was just people.

"These women are such incredible role models, we have got so many talents in the group and it is great to meet so many people in the group."

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