Don’t forget suffering in Afghanistan

The plight of Afghan men, women and children has fallen from the headlines amid crises in Gaza and Ukraine. Olivia Millar, 12, argues that we must all act now and call for change.

Human rights in AfghanistanA mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China. is not the hot topic of the season. And yet conditions for people in the country, particularly women, have continued to deteriorate ever since the TalibanA violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women. came back into power in 2021.

The headlines may have stopped. But the human suffering has not. In fact, over 1,600 human rights violations have been committed since only last year.¹ Here are three key things YOU need to know about life in Afghanistan today:

Women’s rights have been destroyed. The Taliban have imposed rules that bar women and girls from having essential rights, such as freedom of assembly, movement, work and education. These rules also diminish other rights, such as the rights to life, livelihood and access to health care, food and water. 

Women cannot work and girls cannot go to school. They are even forbidden from leaving their homes  without a male relative. 

As well as this, women must wear a full hijabA head covering worn by some Muslim women. and have their faces covered in public .The situation is constantly getting worse. Last year, Taliban authorities ordered the closure of all beauty salons.²

Female protesters are shut down. In some cases, they and their families are held by the Taliban for hours or days. Neda Parwani and Zholia Parsi are two such examples. Both women were arrested alongside their sons — one of them only four years old. 

The UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. Human Rights Council says Afghan women face an “institutionalised framework of gender apartheidA system of legally-enshrined racial discrimination and oppression which existed in South Africa from 1948 until the 1990s. It denied non-white South Africans basic human rights.”.³ This must end now.

The Taliban makes people disappear. Taliban forces have carried out enforced disappearances of former government officials and security force members. In a report published in August 2023, UNAMAThe United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, set up in 2002. documented 218 unlawful killings and 14 enforced disappearances since August 2021.⁴

It gets worse. In a September report, UNAMA documented the systematic torture of detainees. Methods including the waterboardingA form of torture. and public flogging of at least 34 men, eight women and two boys. Their alleged offences (for which there is no proof of guilt) are sometimes as small as gambling.

Millions are starving. The loss of foreign assistance and a long droughtA time when there is not enough water and the ground is very dry. have combined to create a terrible tragedy. More than 28 million people, almost two-thirds of the population, need humanitarian aid. The UN reported that by mid-2023, four million Afghans were starved, including 3.2 million children under the age of five.⁵

Help may not be coming soon. By late 2023, organisations providing health care were either closing clinics or withdrawing support due to lack of funding.⁶ There is no other conclusion. This is unacceptable. But with multiple other crises in the world, from GazaThe smaller of two Palestinian territories, home to two million people. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, bordered by Israel and Egypt. to Ukraine, most of us are just not hearing about it.

Despite this, you can show your support easily. Your actions can make a big difference. Think about donating money to charities like UNICEF or Amnesty International. You can even show your support in simpler ways, such as telling others about the situation, or writing a card to an Afghan detainee. Your support helps. So act now.

Keywords

Afghanistan – A mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China.

Taliban – A violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women.

Hijab – A head covering worn by some Muslim women.

UN – United Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security.

Apartheid – A system of legally-enshrined racial discrimination and oppression which existed in South Africa from 1948 until the 1990s. It denied non-white South Africans basic human rights.

UNAMA – The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, set up in 2002.

Waterboarding – A form of torture.

Drought – A time when there is not enough water and the ground is very dry.

Gaza – The smaller of two Palestinian territories, home to two million people. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, bordered by Israel and Egypt.