June 10, 2022

The West must not let Afghanistan slip back into darkness

topic:	Humanitarian Aid
located:	Afghanistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

The state of affairs in Afghanistan remains appalling. Almost all sectors of society are on a short and eroding lease for life, especially as donations and international funding dwindle. Such a collapse of the nation would haunt the entire world, just as it did three decades ago.

Within months of the haphazard rush to exit by the US and Nato troops, Afghanistan has already lost most of the crucial media coverage it had first garnered to other more recent headlines, such as the war in Ukraine and surging fuel prices. People in Western countries are moving on with their lives; some have new governments; others are preparing for polls; Afghanistan is hardly mentioned in their parliaments, electoral campaigns or news outlets. Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes. 

Meanwhile, the war-ravaged country decays in the abandon of the mighty global powers and its hostile neighbours who are solely interested in exploiting its natural resources.

Citizens of the US and NATO countries must know that people are starving in Afghanistan, millions of them, women and children in particular - and that their countries share the responsibility for this humanitarian crisis. Hospitals are failing to cope with an overwhelming number of patients with chronic diseases, COVID-19, measles, tuberculosis and much more.

Afghans are literally left stateless, with no country recognising the government ruling them, over which they have no voice. It’s hard to imagine the situation could worsen more, especially since just a year ago, life was more or less normal under the fragile, yet functioning state. Without deliberating over the political, strategic and ideological matters behind the failures of democracy and the resurgence of fundamentalism, the friends of humanity worldwide need to push those in power to act quickly to sustain essentials for war-weary Afghans, before it’s too late.

In the past few decades, charity has not been an effective solution, only fostering the syndrome of dependence. A philosophy of self-reliance and auto-development must be embedded in any type of foreign assistance.

Voters in many Western democracies have considerable pressure and leverage. Using their voices for the Afghans who are muted, Western voters must continue pressing their politicians about the plan of action towards assisting Afghanistan - before their inaction pushes the country back to the dark era.

After all, it was a similar sort of abandonment by the entire world of Afghanistan in the 1990s that first plunged the country into a bloody civil war and led to the rise of Taliban and al-Qaeda. Does the world want a repeat of that by abandoning Afghanistan again?

Photo by Wanman Uthmaniyyah

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