We at Mayhew appreciate and share concerns raised about a group of former Mayhew Afghanistan employees and their families, as well as several animals, who we understand to be currently located in Pakistan.
Back in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, we suspended our programmes in the country for approximately two months to best protect the safety of our staff and to allow us to monitor a new and rapidly developing political situation. All of Mayhew Afghanistan staff continued to be paid their salaries during this time and were supported in line with our duties as an employer.
Once it was safe to resume our programmes in Kabul, around late September 2021, we committed to do so, but we understood that some staff felt compelled to resign their posts and leave our employment – and to leave Afghanistan.
We had no involvement in their plans to leave the country and Mayhew has no connection whatsoever to Dominic Dyer or Operation Magic Carpet.
We have provided details of an advice line for Afghan refugees currently in Pakistan, and we continue to provide references for our former colleagues when requested to aid their search for employment.
In Afghanistan, we have recruited and trained a new team of vets and support staff to replace those who chose to leave, as we had a duty to continue delivering our life-saving work. Should any of our former employees return to Afghanistan and we have vacant positions at that time, we will of course consider them.
As an animal welfare charity, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to carry out our vital work to support dogs and cats who need us. We do not have any activity or operational involvement in Pakistan. As such Mayhew is limited both financially and practically in the extent to which we can further provide assistance to this group of our former employees
We at Mayhew, along with other organisations and members of the public, remain concerned for 18 former Mayhew Afghanistan colleagues who are Afghan nationals and who we believe to currently be in Pakistan with their families. We have been making ongoing efforts, which are confidential, to further support this group; this follows several letters to the UK government since August 2021. We are hopeful for a positive outcome for our former colleagues and their families.
“Myself and the whole of the Mayhew team are aware and concerned about the plight of our former colleagues and their families in Pakistan. We are thinking of them and continuing to give our support where we can.”
Shop
Donate