National Geographic magazine’s famous green-eyed ‘Afghan Girl’ has arrived in Italy as part of the West’s evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country, the Italian government announced on Thursday. . A statement from the Italian government’s press office said Italy organized his evacuation after asking for help to leave the country. The Italian government will now help him integrate into life in Italy, the statement said. The gripping portrait of Sharbat Gula, then 12, a Pashtun orphan in a refugee camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border, was taken in 1984 and published the following year. Gula was found decades later in Pakistan when no one knew her name for years. Today, at the end of her quarantine, Gula arrived in Rome, according to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s office. “In 1985, thanks to the photography of Steve McCurry, who the previous year had portrayed her at a very young age in a refugee camp in Peshawar for the cover of National Geographic Magazine, Sharbat Gula achieved worldwide notoriety, to the point of symbolizing the vicissitudes and conflicts of the historic phase that Afghanistan and its people were going through,” read a statement issued by the Italian Prime Minister’s Office. non-profit organizations active in Afghanistan who, after the events of last August, received Sharbat Gula’s appeal for help to leave their country, the Prime Minister took charge of this and organized his transfer to Italy as part of the broader evacuation program for Afghan citizens and the government’s plan for their reception and integration,” the statement continued. refugee status, but has not yet received a response. In 2016, McCurry told CNN the story behind the photograph. “I knew she had an incredible gaze, a penetrating gaze,” he said. “But there were crowds of people around us, the dust was swirling around, and this was before digital cameras and you never knew what would happen with film.” McCurry said he knew the image was special when he developed it. showed it to the editor of National Geographic, and he jumped up and shouted, ‘This is our next cover,'” he added. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
National Geographic magazine’s famous green-eyed “Afghan Girl” has arrived in Italy as part of the West’s evacuation of Afghans after the Taliban took over the country, the Italian government announced on Thursday.
A statement from the Italian government’s press office said Italy organized his evacuation after asking for help to leave the country. The Italian government will now help him integrate into life in Italy, the statement said.
The gripping portrait of Sharbat Gula, then 12, a Pashtun orphan in a refugee camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border, was taken in 1984 and published the following year. Gula was found decades later in Pakistan when no one knew her name for years.
Now close to 40, Gula has arrived in Rome, according to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s office.
“In 1985, thanks to the photograph of Steve McCurry, who the previous year had depicted her very young in a refugee camp in Peshawar for the cover of National Geographic Magazine, Sharbat Gula acquired worldwide notoriety, to the point of symbolizing the vicissitudes and conflicts of the historic phase that Afghanistan and its people were going through,” reads a statement issued by the office of the Italian Prime Minister.
“Responding to the demands of civil society actors and in particular associations active in Afghanistan who, after the events of last August, received Sharbat Gula’s appeal for help to leave their country, the Prime Minister took it upon himself and organized his transfer to Italy as part of the broader evacuation program for Afghan citizens and the government’s plan for their reception and integration,” the statement continued.
Italy was one of several Western countries to airlift hundreds of Afghans out of the country after US forces left and the Taliban took control in August.
CNN has asked the Italian government if Gula’s family has also been granted refugee status, but has yet to hear back.
In 2016, McCurry told CNN the story behind the photograph.
“I knew she had an incredible gaze, a penetrating gaze,” he said. “But there were crowds of people around us, the dust was swirling around, and this was before digital cameras and you never knew what would happen with film.”
McCurry said he knew the image was special when he developed it.
“I showed it to the editor of National Geographic, and he jumped up and shouted ‘this is our next cover,'” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.