#08 On fleeing the Taliban: Hazara-Brit Roh Yakobi talks about fighting his inner demons in the UK & finding peace in political activism

Third Culture Therapy

Hazara-Brit Roh Yakobi fled Afghanistan as a young man after being tortured by the Taliban and is now a UK-based activist and journalist and is currently standing to be selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Shrewsbury and Atcham.

In this episode, Roh talks about running from danger, the struggle to find inner peace in safety and how his political activism gives him purpose and sanity.

Roh is a member of the ethnic minority Hazara community in Afghanistan, who have long been subject to persecution in their homeland, particularly from the Taliban.

Roh’s father was a prominent Hazara military commander in his village in Afghanistan’s central highlands and Roh grew up aware of the dangers and discrimination associated with being from the Hazara community.

Aged 12, Roh was forced to flee his village after the Taliban captured and tortured him. From Pakistan to Iran and eventually to the UK, Roh’s early life was all about running from fear. When he finally arrived to safety in Britain, the trauma and pain he had run from also came with and he shares his struggles with depression and PTSD. He talks about how he had to dig deep into himself to find peace and how fighting for justice for Hazaras gives him purpose and he hopes his story can lift the stigma and shame around mental health within his community.

Additional links and recommended reading www.rohyacobi.com https://kabulcast.buzzsprout.com

• Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present - Jonathan Lee
• The Hazaras and the Afghan State: Rebellion, Exclusion and the Struggle for Recognition - Niamatullah Ibrahimi
• The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study - S.A Mousavi