Australia can and must act now to protect girls and women’s rights
For Immediate Release: 21 September 2021
Since the fall of Kabul the Taliban have escalated the deprivation of women and girls rights across Afghanistan.
Just last week they ordered high schools to re-open for boys only, to be educated by male teachers only. As a result of this, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world to ban half its population from gaining a secondary education.
In a further depravation of rights, the former ministry of women’s affairs building in Kabul has been passed on to a newly re-established ministry for the prevention of vice and the promotion of virtue – a group known for public executions and floggings under the Taliban’s rule in the 1990’s.
Numerous reports have found women have been turned away from work and those who have attempted to protest for their rights have been met with beatings and even death.
Despite this, the Australian Government has not provided any additional humanitarian places outside of its prior intake for people from Afghanistan, including women, girls and those most vulnerable.
The Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network (AAAN) are calling for an urgent commitment from the Australian Government to an additional humanitarian intake of at least 20,000 places in addition to the existing Humanitarian intake. Such a resettlement program should prioritise the most vulnerable persecuted people of Afghanistan, including women and girls.
In addition to the one-off 20,000 emergency humanitarian intake, the AAAN are calling for permanent protection for the 4,200+ refugees from Afghanistan on temporary protection visas here in Australia and the prioritising of family-reunification visas for people with loved ones stuck offshore. Australia could also lift the ban on resettlement of refugees to Australia through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia.
Petitions and an open letter published by the Network have now gained over 196k signatures from concerned organisations and members of the Australian community who are urging for Action for Afghanistan. The AAAN are holding an urgent online briefing event tonight at 6pm as the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.
After nearly two decades of intervention and broken promises, the international community, including Australia leave behind a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis, an Afghanistan that is under the control of the Taliban, an extremist group. All the gains made to advance democracy and human rights are rapidly evaporating.
Elly Kohistani, Afghan-Australian activist
This is a generation of women that will miss the opportunities to become tomorrow's teachers, doctors and innovators if the international community remain oblivious to the atrocities women and girls are facing. The international community cannot expect funding to absolve them of taking responsibility of a failed withdrawal from Afghanistan; more needs to be done in the form of political pressure and assurances that the Taliban will not be recognised or legitimised. The future of women and girls depend on it.
Sitarah Mohammadi, Deputy Chair, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
The unfolding situation in Afghanistan is deeply alarming. Australia, as an ally and friend of Afghanistan, must immediately act on the key asks of AAAN to help those in need of protection by expediting a safe passage out of Afghanistan, as well as granting refugee protection for those here.
Sanam Ahmadzada, mental health researcher, PhD scholar, refugee health consultant
Education is the right of every human, and the threat to that right being taken away from half of Afghanistan’s population should be alarming, not just to the people of Afghanistan but to every human being.
History and the current developing situation in Afghanistan prove that women are especially at risk of violations to their well-being, human rights and safety under the Taliban rule.
We, here in Australia, have a real opportunity to help the women of Afghanistan, as well as other at-risk groups, by the provision of an additional 20,000 humanitarian visas, pathways to permanent protection, and family reunification. The strong and resilient women of Afghanistan continue to stand up for their rights, even when met with beatings and threats to their lives, and it is time for us to amplify their voices and stand by them.
Diana Sayed, CEO, Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights.
As women from Afghanistan we raised the alarm as Kabul fell, that hard fought human rights for women would be at risk under the Taliban. We are heartbroken to witness devastating news every day. The world must take notice, if half the country are not included in the future of Afghanistan there will never be a day without peace and stability for our country.
About the AAAN
The Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network is made up of people from diverse ethnic and religious groups which form the Afghanistan-Australian community. They are academics, lawyers, health workers, advocates, community workers, tradespeople and educators, who came to Australia as refugees, as children of refugees, and migrants.
Media contact:
Emma Davies (RACS)
emma.davies@racs.org.au