Written by Arif Hussein.
Today marks two years since the Taliban took power by force in Afghanistan.
Since then, the Taliban have escalated their systematic war on women, resulting in the erasure of women from public life, and a violently enforced gender apartheid.
Afghanistan’s long persecuted Hazara people, who have never known safety whilst the Taliban have ruled in Afghanistan, have faced increased and ongoing targeting and deliberate persecution both at the hands of the Taliban and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
People in regions which have historically resisted the Taliban’s control such as the Tajik-dominated Panjshir Province have been subjected to war crimes of collective punishment, unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, and torture at the hands of the Taliban. There are also credible reports of the Taliban targeting ethnic Uzbek and Turkmen and forcibly displacing them from their ancestral lands in northern Afghanistan.
In the last two years, Afghanistan has become one of the worlds’ worst humanitarian crises, with 28 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5 who are acutely malnourished.
Australia was one of the first nations to join the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Afghanistan became the longest war in our nation’s history. In those years that we were in Afghanistan, we made promises to the people of Afghanistan about protection of human rights and the rights of women, minorities and persecuted groups.
The Australian government has an ongoing moral obligation to the people of Afghanistan and in particular women, and persecuted and ethnic minority groups. The Action for Afghanistan campaign calls on the Albanese government to condemn the gender-apartheid imposed on women in Afghanistan and the systematic persecution of ethnic groups such as the Hazara people. We also call on the Australian Government to work with the UN and the international community to ensure Australia’s foreign aid contribution to Afghanistan is distributed in a non-discriminatory, equitable manner and reaches those in need. The government must also urgently increase its humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan including through increased, and expedited humanitarian visas.
“Two years on from one of the most catastrophic diplomatic failures of our time, the people of Afghanistan continue to pay the highest price trapped under a terrorist regime. Australia needs to do more. Since coming to power, despite overwhelming support from Afghanistan’s diaspora community, the Labor government has made no further commitments to honour the twenty-year history of Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. Significant delays in the processing of family reunification and temporary protection applications is putting more lives at risk every day. Thousands from Afghanistan remain in paralysing limbo in Indonesia barred from resettling in Australia. The Labor government must show a higher moral conscience than its predecessor,” said Shabnam Safa, Chair – National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group, Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network.
“Since the Taliban’s forceful return to power in 2021, they have launched a systematic campaign against human rights in Afghanistan that affects all groups, but especially women, Hazara people, and religious and ethnic minorities. We call on Australia to support Afghanistan’s women and the Hazaras, a group the Taliban have targeted for genocide. Australia should continue giving protection to refugees who are fleeing from Taliban tyranny,” said Sitarah Mohammadi, World Hazara Council Spokesperson and Law Graduate, Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network.
“Two years on, and so many including my own family members are losing hope. Australia is certainly trying to step up and act on its international obligations by committing to a humanitarian intake that is reflective of Australia’s two decades of military operations in Afghanistan but the execution of this commitment leaves a lot to be desired. We cannot emphasise enough how the slow processing of humanitarian applications is having a devastating impact on those who simply do not have the luxury of time and are facing life and death situations while awaiting a response,” said Mariam Veiszadeh, CEO Media Diversity Australia, Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network.
