The Taliban conflict explained

Written by Andre Reis Botelho Gomes Da Silva

This summer saw massive change to one of the Middle East’s biggest countries. The United States government decided to remove troops from Afghanistan, meaning that the Taliban were able to regain control of the nation. The US invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, after the September 11th attacks, and thus proceeded almost 20 years of US control. During this time, war ensued between various forces in Afghanistan.

With the withdrawal of US troops by the Biden administration this summer, it has allowed the Taliban to take back control over the war-torn nation. This has caused an influx of new refugees attempting to escape the Taliban regime. Famous photos and videos circulated in the media of Afghans crowding planes and even holding onto the outside of the plane, as seen in the image below. This is dangerous, and has led to various deaths, which shows the desperation amongst these people to escape Afghanistan.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, between 4,000 and 5,000 Afghans cross the border to Iran daily. Many of these people are young children, or women escaping their limited rights under Taliban rule. This number, in comparison to recent years, has skyrocketed.

A vast majority of these refugees dislocate to neighboring countries, such as Pakistan and the aforementioned Iran. These countries have very limited economic resources, which is evident in their policy position, when they stated that “cannot cope with a further influx of Afghan refugees...any refugees that do arrive will have to stay in camps near the border until they can return to Afghanistan.” Additionally, other less economically developed countries have either stated they will not be able to accept Afghan refugees, or such as in the case of Uzbekistan, Kosovo, and Uganda, have offered to be a temporary refuge and help Afghans transfer to other countries.

This leaves the solution for the permanent dislocation of these refugees up to the higher economically developed countries. Austria, Poland, and Switzerland, who combined became the destination for over 62,000 Afghan refugees in 2020 alone, have stated they will not accept any new refugees. Turkey, who alone gave over 129,000 Afghans refuge in 2020, has stated that they do not want to become “Europe's migrant storage unit” and have stated that this crisis is Europe’s problem to solve. Turkey has even gone so far as to build a wall on its border with Iran to prevent the influx of migrants. The European Union, however, is not too keen on Turkey's passing of responsibility, since they do not want a repeat of the 2015 influx of Syrian refugees to Europe. Nevertheless, France has stated they will accept an unspecified number of refugees. The UK said they will accept 5,000 refugees in 2021, and Germany has flirted with the possibility of accepting up to 40,000 migrants, although this is unconfirmed. Canada has stated they will accept 20,000 immigrants, and Australia will accept 3,000. Of course, this is far from enough to give visas to every Afghan refugee, and many refugees will have to wait years to gain legal status, living in precarious, and often dangerous conditions.

If you wish to help Afghan refugees, please contact the Esprit de Corps project, or donate to charities such as No One Left Behind, or the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

Bibliography

Team, The Visual Journalism. “Afghanistan: How Many Refugees Are There and Where Will They Go?” BBC News, BBC, 31 Aug. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58283177.

“How to Help Afghan Refugees: 3 Organizations Providing Housing, Transportation and Other Necessities.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-help-afghan-refugees-organizations-housing-transportation-necessities/.

“Humanitarian Needs in Iran Rise as 300,000 Afghans Arrive since Taliban Takeover.” NRC, https://www.nrc.no/news/2021/november/humanitarian-needs-in-iran-rise-as-300000-afghans-arrive-since-taliban-takeover/.

Al Jazeera. “Aid Group Says 4,000-5,000 Afghans Crossing into Iran Daily.” Taliban News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/10/aid-groups-says-4000-5000-afghans-crossing-into-iran-daily.