Over three years after the Taliban takeover of the country, Afghanistan human rights defenders (HRDs) and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) face significant and unprecedented challenges. Those who are living inside Afghanistan are not only restricted from continuing their human rights work, but also live under constant threats to their safety due to the Taliban’s intensified violence and harassment. In particular, WHRDs grapple with the Taliban’s misogynistic policies, targeting them with systematic persecution and discrimination, resulting in the deprivation of their basic rights that amounts to gender apartheid.
After 15 August 2021, many defenders have been forced into hiding or have managed to flee the country for their survival. Those who sought refuge in transit countries – mainly Iran and Pakistan – face innumerable risks such as deportation, harassment, and economic constraints to their livelihood. Meanwhile, those defenders settled in western countries benefit from a comparatively greater security, while still facing their own set of difficulties, including concerns about their overall well-being and the lack of a long-term support system to sustain their human rights work while in exile.
Against this backdrop, this research illustrates the circumstances of Afghanistan’s HRDs both inside and outside Afghanistan, exploring the main problems that they face, their needs, as well as opportunities for resuming or continuing their work. With the aim to support to the Afghanistan human rights movement including through its diaspora groups, the research also provides workable recommendations to various stakeholders who are positioned to fulfill the needs of Afghanistan defenders.
https://forum-asia.org/exilehrd/