A cover girl with a story like no other: Why the Afghan girl is making headlines once more.
She was the face of Afghani refugee’s plight 30 years ago and now her face is a symbol of the growing hostility Pakistanis feel towards refugees they believe have outstayed their welcome.
In 1984, National Geographic printed one of their best and most well-known covers. It was the image of Sharbat Gula, her green-eyes piercing down the camera lens.
She became known as the ‘Afghan Girl’ and her face symbolized the plight of Afghan refugees who were forced into Pakistan refugee camps following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
Three decades on, and Gula’s face now represents the hostility between Pakistan and Afghanistan as many believe the refugees have outstayed their welcome.
On Tuesday Pakistani media published a photo from Gula’s computerized national identity card (CNIC), a document no foreign citizen is eligible for.
Gula was found to be living in the country on these fraudulent papers by Pakistani officials under the name of Sharbat Bibi.
Her image was shared by the media as proof of underlying corruption within the government, angry that out of 3 million Afghan refugees the most well-known was able to acquire the ID.
