Since the 1970s, Australian immigration policy has changed dramatically, meaning Afghan refugees face far greater hurdles than those who fled Saigon after the Vietnam War.
The Afghan military’s collapse was the collective result of individual soldiers making rational decisions based on what they expected their comrades to do.
Culture change has been slow and difficult but the will to make life better for Afghan women was there. Now a big question mark hangs over their future.
New Zealand has an ethical obligation to acknowledge its role in creating the crisis in Afghanistan and to increase its refugee intake to save as many as possible.
The Taliban’s recent conquest of Kabul signifies their seizure of power. This threatens the rights of girls, women and sexual minorities to freedom from harm and access to opportunities.
Hanif Sufizada got caught in Kabul as the Taliban took over. A scholar and resident of the US who works at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, Sufizada describes his experience trying to leave.
It may be attractive to think that promoting democracy in occupied foreign countries is an appropriate moral and effective path for restoring security and stability. But it’s not accurate.
Any attempt to restore an Islamic emirate is likely to cost the Tablian international recognition, legitimacy and aid. This will weaken its prospect of consolidating its hold internally.
Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US Afghanistan pullout is not a repeat of failures in other recent wars. “This is not Saigon,” he said. A seasoned foreign policy expert disagrees.
Canada is offering to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees, including women’s leaders and journalists. Why has Australia so far been unwilling to make the same declaration?
When the US invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, Afghans had endured 22 years of war. The Taliban were on the rise. Little has changed after an additional 20 years of war and suffering.