This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.

This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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How the West is failing Afghan women under threat

By: []

Date: 2021-09

Numerous advocates for women’s rights have been working behind the scenes for months – and more urgently since the Taliban takeover – to help human rights defenders get out of the country. But governments are doing little to help.

One striking example is reported by Ben Slater, a former British soldier, who says he helped one group of women’s rights activists to reach the border of a neighbouring country after they were unable to get into Kabul airport.

This author lobbied the Australian government on the women’s behalf. The government soon provided visas for the families with connections in Australia. Slater says others are eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Scheme in the UK and sent a list, which openDemocracy has seen, of these women to authorities in London. However, Slater says the British government failed to provide the necessary paperwork for the women and children in his care. They spent two days in a border zone that was at the time out of Taliban control; their fate is currently unknown but they certainly face grave danger.

Another case was reported in late August by Brad Blitz, a professor of international politics and policy at University College London. Blitz claims that the UK failed to evacuate 350 Afghan researchers, lawyers and activists on women’s rights, peace and security even though it had been funding their work. The Global Challenges Research Fund, for which Blitz works, had been funding the work as part of the British government’s Official Development Assistance, managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Blitz claims that his group gave the British government a list of Afghan women’s human rights defenders with whom they had worked in mid-August. According to him, the list was sent to the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Only two people were given offers for evacuation flights. However, even they were offered no assistance to get to the airport and were unable to make it there alone. The offers also did not allow the women to bring dependents.
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/how-west-failing-afghan-women-under-threat/
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