Esmat Noori was lucky to escape the Taliban in Afghanistan nine years ago and build a new life in Australia, including in the Blue Mountains.
But the 31-year-old now fears for his mother and cousin in Kabul after the Taliban regained control of the country and its capital.
"My cousin is in a very serious danger. He is trying to go to Pakistan but can't get the visa," he said.
Mr Noori's daily phone calls with his cousin and mother this week have revealed an increasingly fraught situation on the ground in Kabul. He said his cousin, 36, has confirmed media reports of revenge killings following the Taliban's seizing of power.
"In the city, as my cousin says, there are no rules, no laws, nothing... Other people are taking advantage of the situation. People have been killed. People who want to revenge each other just do it in the name of Taliban."
Mr Noori's 61-year-old mother was living on her own in Pakistan at the start of this year but made the difficult decision to return to Afghanistan when she contracted COVID-19 six months ago.
In Kabul, she is able to be looked after by Mr Noori's cousin, but now both their lives are at risk. They are members of the minority Hazara community who have previously been violently targeted by the Taliban.
Despite the chaos and danger in Kabul, Mr Noori said his mother shows little concern for her own welfare when he speaks to her.
"My mum is just happy for me... She says: 'Don't worry for me. Even if I die I am happy because you are out of danger'. But I can't accept this sacrifice. She is my Mum. It's not easy to just accept that and leave her. I will try any possible way to get her out of that country."
Mr Noori lodged a refugee application for his mother two years ago but the process has stalled and gone nowhere. He is now desperately trying to start the same process for his cousin.
He has urged the Australian government to increase its refugee intake from Afghanistan and to expedite the processing of applications for people in danger under the current crisis.
The former Leura resident was forced to flee Afghanistan suddenly in 2012 after he was targeted by the Taliban because he worked as a bartender at the British Embassy in Kabul. He escaped to neighbouring Pakistan before spending four years in Indonesia, waiting for his refugee status to be determined. In 2016 he was granted a humanitarian visa to Australia and last month formally became an Australian citizen.
"In the past four years I have worked non-stop," he said. "I follow the rules, I pay my taxes. I still try to be helpful for the community and contribute to the community because what Australia has done for me has changed my life. They gave me a new life."
Mr Noori now lives in Sydney to be closer to his manufacturing job at Artarmon but he spent two years in Leura and has also worked with the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group.
- The Defence all-hours Support Line is a confidential telephone and online service for ADF members and their families 1800 628 036.
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- Lifeline: 13 11 44
