Afghanistan National Institute of Music Arrives Safely in Portugal

In what represents the largest rescue of a self-contained Afghan community since August’s Taliban takeover, 273 ANIM students, faculty, staff and immediate family members landed safely in Lisbon, Portugal on December 13, where they have been invited to reestablish the school. By keeping its young students and master musicians together to continue their work in exile, ANIM founder and director Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast hopes to ensure not only their physical safety, and freedom to pursue their artistic dreams, but also the future of Afghanistan’s rich but beleaguered musical heritage.

In five airlifts between October 2 and November 16, the ANIM community, including the famed, all-female Zohra Orchestra, escaped from Kabul to Doha, Qatar. (See coverage of the escape by the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.) Now joined by two new babies, born last week to ANIM faculty families, the group has reached its final destination by means of an SAS charter flight from Doha to Lisbon. This completes a long and complex effort made possible by the government of Portugal, where ANIM’s members have been granted group asylum.