January 20, 2023

The West’s punitive measures target Afghan people instead of Taliban

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

Even though Afghan women have suffered the most from the Taliban’s rise to power in 2021, the West has misplaced their disciplinary responses against them and the rest of Afghanistan’s citizens instead of targeting the violent group. The rest of the world has abandoned and neglected the people in need, leaving them at the mercy of the Taliban.

Just recently, for example, the Australian cricket team resorted to condemning the Taliban’s restriction of women’s rights by suspending any cricket matches with the Afghan national team. Why is the cricket team, which is still uniting behind the tricolour, democratic flag of Afghanistan’s past government, being penalised for their oppressor’s policies? 

Denying the Afghans the opportunity to see their national team play on the international level amounts to depriving them of little joys, which help them survive in the absence of their freedom.

Similarly, last month, the Taliban came up with yet another bizarre move to oppress women: it banned them from working in non-governmental organisations or from attending universities. And yet, instead of continuing to support the people in need, many aid groups responded to this by suspending operations - therefore leaving the entire population that they served deprived of crucial needs and services. This amounted to punishing the whole country for the Taliban’s decisions, instead of empowering inclusivity and assistance in a dire time.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country has not been officially recognised by any country of the world, and its banking system is burdened by international sanctions, resulting in crippling poverty and subsequent miseries for the entire population. This has also crushed the job market within the country and generated an exodus of capital. And yet, as Afghan boys and girls desperately seek avenues for escape, or opportunities for jobs and education abroad, no countries are granting them visas.

Instead of punishing the Afghan women and men with such harsh measures, the international community needs to tighten the sanctions around the Taliban leadership and amplify diplomatic pressure through effective channels to deliver relief for Afghan women.

Photo by Wanman Uthmaniyyah

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