It's been six months since the world watched Afghanistan's capital city fall to the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans attempted to flee their homeland, with some even clinging to planes as they took off at Kabul international airport.
Among those desperate to escape was Ali Rahmani and his family.
Mr Rahmani was working as an interpreter and graphic designer when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year.
"Everything happened [suddenly], so we were in shock for a few days," Mr Rahmani said.
"People were just running to the airport to get a place to fly somewhere."
Family confronted with chaotic scenes at airport
Once the family were granted a humanitarian visa, they also raced to the airport to secure a flight out of Afghanistan.
"We had to get to the airport and get on a plane, but there were crowds of [thousands] so, unfortunately, for a few days we couldn't make it," he said.
The family finally arrived in Australia on September 17 and undertook two weeks of hotel quarantine in Sydney before flying over to Perth and isolating for another fortnight.
A few months down the track and Mr Rahmani still can't believe they made it out.
"We were in deep shock that we were in Australia. It's unbelievable to be in Australia," he said.
He and his family have now settled in a temporary home in Perth's south and said they couldn't be more grateful to call Western Australia home.
"I knew that settling in a new place would take time [and] would be very hard, but we are still happy that we are dealing with good people here, so they made this place a bit easier to settle," Mr Rahmani said.
"Perth has been a good place, a friendly place … and is a place my family and I will never forget."
Red Cross helping new arrivals settle
Mr Rahmani is one of 190 evacuees who the Australian Red Cross has been assisting in Western Australia as part of its humanitarian settlement program.
The organisation's state lead for migration, Liza Beinart, said the evacuation process was an intense but rewarding time for her team.
"We have been delivering the humanitarian settlement program for several years but this was the first time we've delivered it in such rapid circumstances," Ms Beinart said.
"The focus for us is on providing safe and secure housing, enrolling people who are eligible into employment and education pathways, making sure children are enrolled in schools, and supporting people to make the really important part of their settlement journey, which is social community links."
She said the organisation's main priority was helping evacuees integrate into the community.
"When people are ripped so quickly, and so traumatically, from everything they know and basically forced to make a new life in a new country that they're very unfamiliar with, having that sense of familiarity with a local Afghan community can be very comforting," she said.
"Some people choose to engage really strongly in their local cultural community and others choose to take a different path.
"But it's really important that we've provided them with access to the Afghan community, which has been really amazing in reaching out to the clients and making sure that they feel welcomed locally."
Despite arriving in Australia at a time when the country was experiencing strict rules around COVID-19 and isolation requirements, Ms Beinart said the evacuees had managed to adjust.
"It's been a really positive journey for most people. They're looking, optimistically, towards the future and are really grateful for the support they received from all different aspects of the community."
Perth's Afghan community lays out welcome mat
Afghan community leader Assadullah Khurrami was one of the first to welcome the evacuees once rescue flights began landing in Perth last year.
He said the Afghan community in Perth had also been very supportive.
"When we were there to welcome them in their first language and show them that Afghans exist here and we have an established community, it was such a great relief for them," Mr Khurrami said.
"They felt very comfortable and safe talking to us, opening their hearts and having very important conversations about their wellbeing, about their mental health, about their families, about people who have been left behind.
"We provided a lot emotional support for the Afghan community, language support, cultural support and we provided clothing and culturally appropriate foods just to make them feel welcome in the community and make them feel at home."
Mr Khurrami also praised the arrivals for adapting to their new lives so quickly.
"They're working in factories, in restaurants, hospitality business and elsewhere," he said.
"I've said it from the beginning, that once their fundamental needs are met, they will enter the workforce and I'm glad to see that is happening now."
Mixed feelings for those who made it here
However, for some, the journey to Australia has been bittersweet.
"The most challenging and concerning part for the Afghan evacuees is that all of them have immediate family members back home and there are some families that have been separated from their loved ones, children, husband or wife during the evacuation process," Mr Khurrami said.
"The struggle is ongoing … they are trying to get their family members here but the challenges and the difficulties around family reunification is really difficult for these people."
That's the reality for Sabia Rezaie, a young Afghan Hazara refugee.
The 23-year-old came to Australia in 2018 with her parents, leaving behind her brother.
She has been volunteering at the Australian Red Cross to help people trace their missing family members, while hers remain stuck in Afghanistan.
Ms Rezaie said it was sometimes challenging to help the evacuees, while fearing for her family's safety in Afghanistan.
The Hazara group are an ethnic minority in Afghanistan who have historically been discriminated against and persecuted by the Taliban.
"When I see these families coming here, I wish my family was with them," she said.
"Every day I talk [to my brother], and the situation is very bad … they can't do anything.
"I want them to come here as soon as possible so they can have a safe life and their children get an education and have a bright future here like us."
However, Ms Rezaie said, she found comfort in guiding other people to begin their new life in Perth.
"When I arrived here, I saw so many difficulties regarding my education, transport, everything … and there was no one to guide me," she said.
"So that's why, from then on, I made a promise to myself that I would help and guide my community."
Ms Rezaie has been assisting the evacuees by interpreting for them and transporting them to their appointments but, she said, they still require further support.
"The most important thing is the social support because, when you come here, you don't know anyone, everything has changed [including] the culture and the language, so it's hard for them to express what they want," she said.
"They also need mental support because they had a very bad experience in their past."
February 15 marks the six-month anniversary of the fall of Kabul, and for many, the emotional wounds are still fresh.
Mr Khurrami said the day marks a "very traumatising and emotional moment for all Afghans".
"Nobody hoped, and nobody thought, that this day would come, that the country would fall into the hands of the terrorists again," he said.
Having experienced the fall of governments in Afghanistan three times in his life, Mr Khurrami said it was "a very hard truth to accept".
"It is about the level of trauma, the persecution, the [targeted] killings of individuals and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan," he said.
"How people are being picked out and chosen by this regime and persecuted, based on their race or religion or personal views."
Call to open the door to more refugees
For families like Mr Rahmani's, finding refuge in Australia does not erase the trauma they experienced.
"People were betrayed by the government, by the alliance, by everyone who had given them hope for 20 years," Mr Rahmani said.
"Everything went back 20 years in one moment. Everything went back to the same situation of chaos."
Mr Rahmani hopes the federal government will offer more places for Afghans who are in need of humanitarian protection.
While the government recently announced an additional 15,000 refugees from Afghanistan would be resettled in Australia over the next four years, the Afghan community and the Australian Red Cross has called for more.
In a submission to the Senate Inquiry into Australia's Engagement in Afghanistan, the Australian Red Cross recommended the government increase Australia's humanitarian intake from Afghanistan by at least 20,000 so that people such as Mr Rahmani and Ms Reazie could reunite with their families again.
"There are very vulnerable people there and they are waiting for help," Mr Rahmani said.
"I'm sure we can make a better home for them here."
