As the Taliban retake power in Afghanistan, Women for Refugee Women urges the UK government to step up and do all they can to ensure that women and girls are protected.
It is essential that the UK upholds its stated commitment to women’s rights in practice, above all by offering safe passage and asylum in the UK to women who need to leave the country for their own safety, and also putting resources into local organisations who support women and girls in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries.
This pressing situation is a clear reminder of the need to uphold the right to asylum. The government should now abandon its plans for the harmful Nationality and Borders Bill and ensure that those who have to cross borders for safety are protected, not punished.
The Taliban’s abuse of women’s rights is well documented. Women who have been educated, have spoken out, have taken part in public life and built careers over the last 20 years are now at risk. It is vital that the international community now stands together to protect women. This is not a time to turn our backs on women. This is a time for solidarity.
Our director, Alphonsine Kabagabo, says:
“It is horrifying to see what women and girls are now facing in Afghanistan. The scene at Kabul airport reminded me how lucky I was with my family to reach Kigali airport in the middle of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi, and to be allowed to board a plane and to find refuge in a safe country like Belgium. Straightforward humanitarian action can change people’s lives forever. I urge the UK government to step up and do all it can to help women who are facing horrific threats to their lives and safety, who are being forced to go into hiding and flee the country in order to survive.”
Rahela Sidiqi, director of the Rahela Trust and former trustee of Women for Refugee Women, says:
“Women of Afghanistan are calling on the world to uphold our rights and protect our lives. Being given asylum in the UK saved my life when I was threatened by the Taliban. Now I ask the UK government to help save the lives of my friends and sisters in this horrifying emergency. Do not abandon us at this time of crisis.”
Update 18 August 2021:
In response to the recent government announcement (18 August 2021) of a resettlement programme for Afghan refugees, Women for Refugee Women states:
The government should increase the resettlement programme urgently
The government has proposed to take 5000 refugees this year, as part of a scheme to resettle 20,000 over a five year period. This is clearly inadequate given the scale of the crisis and the UK’s responsibility to the citizens of Afghanistan. Already, there are hundred of thousands of displaced Afghans within the country and in neighbouring countries. Women for Refugee Women has joined calls for the UK government to commit to an immediate resettlement programme for 20,000.
The government should do more to protect women at risk
The Home Secretary has stated that women and girls will be prioritised on this programme but has given no indication of how this will be achieved. For too long, women in Afghanistan have been given promises by the West that are then broken. Civil society organisations on the ground are already reporting violence and abuse by Taliban against women in public life, and are reporting that women are going into hiding. The UK government must work proactively with civil society organisations and individuals in Afghanistan and the region to identify women at risk and ensure they can journey to safety.
The government should ensure equal treatment for all refugees
The new Nationality and Borders Bill proposes measures that will punish those who seek asylum by irregular routes, outside of resettlement programmes. Many Afghans arrive already by irregular routes, and many more will now be following them. This is particularly the case given the small scale of the resettlement programme and the lack of other safe routes. Under the measures proposed in the Borders Bill, Afghan women who are forced to flee without official permission, and get into the back of a lorry or a small boat to get to safety, would be criminalised and have their asylum claim ruled inadmissible. The government should abandon its plan to distinguish between refugees based on how they travel to the UK.
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