A terrified father battling for his family to flee Afghanistan says he has been stripped of his sole means of financially supporting them owing to DBS check delays.

Kaneshka Morady is “worried every day” for his family - including his adopted daughter - who are living under Taliban rule.

The 48-year-old had been supporting his loved ones with his earnings as a taxi driver in Gravesend, but has now been left without work following a shake-up to the regulation of the industry.

Kaneshka had worked as a cabbie since 2004, but he says changes to Gravesham council’s requirements for licence holders have left him unemployed for six months.

Although Kaneshka had a standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, he learned that he needed an enhanced version in order to continue as a taxi driver towards the end of last year.

He applied for one on November 14, 2023, but says he has still not heard back from the government service, despite numerous phone calls and emails, except to say there’s “too much of a backlog”.

Kaneshka told KentOnline: “It’s a terrible situation. I’m terrified.

“I was partially financing my family and now I can’t without work - I worry every day about the fact that I can’t look after them.”

His family live in Mazar-i-Sharif, the fourth-largest city in Afghanistan and the capital of northern Balkh province.

And the Taliban turning up at their home demanding money is not an infrequent occurrence he says.

His father, brother and brother-in-law have all been taken and jailed at different times.

“If my brother as a man doesn’t have the security – what chance does my sister have?”

Kaneshka added that he is particularly frightened for his nine-year-old daughter, Aisha who he adopted with his wife Helga.

Having no biological children of their own, the couple took her in when she was a baby in 2015 during a visit home.

But, they have not been able to bring her back to the UK and she is currently being cared for by his parents.

The dad said: “I don’t even want to talk about it because she is so dear to me and I’m really scared for her.

“Luckily she can go to school because she is young but I’m so afraid of something happening to her as she gets older.”

Under Taliban laws, she has to wear a hijab when she leaves the house.

Kaneshka said: “When she is inside the home there is no difference between here and there.”

Though he says she is currently oblivious to what is happening around her, he fears for his daughter’s future.

“There is no life there,” he said.

The Chalk resident says he wants to get his family out of Afghanistan and somewhere else safe but does not have the funds.

Kaneshka is currently unemployed as he has not been able to operate his taxi since December and has no other means of income.

He said: “The council is saying if I had the DBS then there would not be a problem in issuing a [taxi] licence.”

A Gravesham council spokesperson said they cannot comment on individual cases but they are aware there is a delay in DBS checks being carried out.

They added: “The primary purpose of the taxi and private hire licensing regime is to protect public safety.

“DBS certificates are required by the council in line with our policy and statutory guidance, and form an integral part of the checks carried out to assess whether applicants are fit and proper people to be entrusted with carrying the travelling public in a taxi or private hire vehicle.

“Mr Morady has contacted our licensing service on a number of occasions and has been kept fully updated on the progress of his application.”

KentOnline asked the government service whether Kaneshka’s case had been held up due to a concern with his application, or whether the delay was due to a backlog.

A spokesperson for the Disclosure and Barring Service said: “It is the responsibility of the taxi licensing authority to decide how frequently a taxi licence is reviewed.

“They also decide whether the applicant needs to apply for a new DBS check, use a previously issued DBS certificate, or a previously issued DBS certificate linked to our Update Service which is online and can be accessed anywhere in the country.

“DBS continues to perform strongly in our turnaround times for DBS Enhanced checks.

“In spite of increased demand for our products and services, our average turnaround time for Enhanced DBS checks is just under 13 days.

“Overall police performance is strong, but some applications can take longer to process at the police stage, known as Stage 4.

“Any delays at this stage are primarily due to extra demand for DBS checks and resource shortages.”

The service added that they are working closely with forces in supporting them to return to agreed target times as quickly as possible by providing additional funding to recruit to the required level of staffing to process checks.

The funding has been provided for overtime and where possible other forces are providing support.