Photograph: Alan BetsonAn Afghan doctor who has lived in Ireland for more than a decade said she feared for her family’s safety after her brother was physically attacked in Co Meath earlier this month and told to “speak English”. Fatima Abdullah (33) moved to Ireland in 2015, joining her husband, who had moved here the year before to work as a doctor. Abdullah’s parents and siblings moved to Ireland in 2022, after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021. Her brother, Ibrahim Samim, was allegedly headbutted by a man in a takeaway in Navan, Co Meath. If you want to be seen, it has to be [one of them].’”Despite the recent assault, Abdullah said her family had no plans to move.

Source: The Irish Times March 30, 2026 10:32 UTC