The assassination by the United States of the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, comes as we prepare to mark, on August 15, the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan a year ago .
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Impossible to forget the images of the chaos which reigned with the airport of Kabul whereas Afghans clung to the planes to try to flee.
Twenty years of Western occupation have been swept away in the space of a few days. And the achievements of women too.
The testimonies that come to us from Afghanistan these days confirm that the situation of women there is critical.
Under the Taliban regime, the living space of Afghan women is shrinking day after day: no longer the right to study, to work, to go out alone…
In the words of Amnesty International’s most recent report, Afghan women are victims of a “suffocating repression”. In other words, they are slowly dying.
And one could unfortunately add: in general indifference.
The eyes of the world are on Ukraine, for obvious reasons. To Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to whom Western leaders bow to obtain oil. And to the United States, where Donald Trump still manages to garner near-daily media attention as Joe Biden tries to shake off lingering COVID-19.
But who cares about the fate of Afghan women?
For its report, Amnesty International conducted interviews with approximately 100 women of all ages. They speak of forced marriages, kidnappings, disappearances, torture. Fear transpires from this heartbreaking read.
The organization Women for Women International, which continues its educational work on the ground, also took the pulse of Afghan women last winter, then again in July. He wanted to make sure they felt safe enough to pursue the programs offered by the organization across the country. He has found that the situation is getting worse and worse, we are told.
The organization is doing acrobatics to continue its action in this country without pointing anyone. To obtain the authorization of the powers in place – which is negotiated one province at a time – we no longer speak of “women’s rights”, we rather put the emphasis on literacy, hygiene…
What emerges above all from the interviews with Afghan women, explains Nashi Singh, head of global policy for Women for Women, is their fear of being forgotten. They demand our attention. Amnesty International makes the same observation.
On this file, Canada can make a difference.
Especially since he has a moral debt to Afghanistan.
However, since the withdrawal of our troops, we cannot say that our action with the Afghan people has been up to par. Several Afghan interpreters – those who, it should be remembered, risked their lives to help Canadians – had to abandon their plans to settle in the country because of inefficient bureaucracy.
Visas are being issued in dribs and drabs and the goal of welcoming a total of 40,000 Afghan nationals seems increasingly unattainable. According to the latest news, Ottawa was preparing to end its special immigration program for former Afghan employees of the Armed Forces, a program that has welcomed approximately 18,000 people.
Voices are being raised, with good reason, to keep our doors open to Afghans. As for the Minister of International Development, Harjit Sajjan, he must relax Canadian regulations in order to facilitate the work of NGOs in the field.
Should I remind him? Women’s rights are the spearhead of Canadian international policy, which prides itself on promoting feminist values. However, all the principles supposedly defended by Canada – safety and dignity of women, gender equality, etc. – are violated in Afghanistan.
Canada can and must do better. It must carry the voice of Afghan women within international bodies in order to ensure that their fate remains a priority.
Afghan women are counting on us. They must not be abandoned.