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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Refugees and Asylum |
|---|---|
| located: | Afghanistan, USA |
| editor: | Shadi Khan Saif |
In the wake of its sudden evacuation from Afghanistan, the US has only furthered its damage-inflicting course on the war-ravaged country by abolishing a much needed scholarship opportunity for young and bright Afghan students. The Biden Administration, regardless of its publicly avowed promises of supporting the Afghan people, appears to be devising its policies as revenge tactics against the Taliban group following its appropriation of Kabul.
The State Department will not continue its prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student Program in Afghanistan, an official said Friday, after 140 semi-finalists were chosen last year but left in limbo regarding the program's status ever since the chaotic withdrawal of US troops and the subsequent Taliban takeover.
"Due to significant barriers impeding our ability to provide a safe exchange experience, the selection process for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program in Afghanistan for the 2022-23 academic year will not move forward," a State Department official told ABC News.
Millions of peoples’ lives are at stake due to these apparently haphazard moves of huge significance that are capturing very little attention on the international stage as the Afghan conflict is no longer in the media limelight, at least not in this context. Afghanistan is only being painted as a naturally devastated country, with no one taking responsibility for the mess caused by the haphazard US withdrawal, the military takeover by the Taliban and the crippling corruption by the previous Kabul government.
It is true that Afghanistan has harsh winters, there are drought spells, and many other issues that are common in many countries; but abandoning the country altogether by first negotiating with an armed group for a safe passage, then denying it the legitimacy to rule the country, freezing the state reserves, and now denying students of that country the opportunity to study is way too cruel.
Just days after this decision, US President Joe Biden called for the release of Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, saying his liberation was “not negotiable” if the Taliban regime were to expect any consideration of being recognised as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
What does this signify in terms of the legitimacy of the Taliban and the longstanding US sanctions making millions of Afghans suffer? Does this mean that all the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan and its frozen state assets by the US were merely for the cause of releasing a captive American veteran?
With all due respect to Mark and his family, this is beyond any norms of decency, let alone humanity, when the top proponent of human rights begins to prioritise one of its citizens over an entire nation.
Photo by MChe Lee
