Afghanistan: CFWIJ Plays Its Part In Aiding Relocation Of Journalists And Other Vulnerable Groups In The Country After The Taliban Takeover.
Location: Afghanistan, Kabul
Date: August 19, 2021
The withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan after the failure of their nation-building experiment in the region that began two decades ago, and the subsequent Taliban takeover of Kabul has resulted in widespread fear across the country. Several journalists, news media organizations, activists, non-government organizations, women and minority groups now fear a threat to their lives and seek asylum elsewhere.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism responded immediately to the crisis and has been engaged in seeking gateways out of Afghanistan for journalists, activists, human rights defenders and women feeling vulnerable to the recent political developments. In the initial days, we aided the relocation of 12 foreign journalists as well as 24 Afghan journalists in the country. However, since then we have been inundated in applications for asylum. We have received over 2500 applications and are vetting these to process the most urgent and needy cases. Our priority is to aid safe passageways for groups most vulnerable to the political changes in the country. We are working with several countries and organizations in evacuation and asylum efforts for those in dire need.
We are saddened to see that the situation has escalated to this extent. The Coalition For Women In Journalism has consistently reported on the threats faced by the journalist fraternity in the country, especially women journalists. And at a time like this, it becomes of utmost important that the international community offers support and alliance to individuals fleeing extremely dangerous circumstances.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges the international community to extend support to the vulnerable groups from Afghanistan who have routinely been subjected to conservative political tides and interventionist politics. It will do well for us to remember that citizens from the Global South are active agents of their own politics - they are not vehicles for political ideologies of powers with vested interests in the region, whether they be imperialistic ventures of religious extremism. At this time, Afghan citizens require a progressive alliance in order to empower themselves, and we are proud to stand in solidarity with them.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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