Major reforms are needed in Afghanistan to halt the migration of a large number of Afghan nationals who are fleeing the country after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
The recent developments with regard to the security situation in Afghanistan have serious implications not only for the region but for the world at large. It is in particular extremely worrying for the Afghan nationals who have been facing difficulties for more than four decades as a result of conflict, persistent natural disasters and chronic poverty.
On 15 August 2021, the capital of Afghanistan, was taken over by Taliban forces, ending the war that began in 2001. The fall of Kabul raised serious concerns and mixed reactions across the globe. There were debates on how and why it happened, who should be blamed for the collapse, whether it was preplanned or just a coincidence and whether the world should recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan or otherwise.
The evacuation of those working for foreign organizations in Afghanistan began with the fall of Kabul and is still going on. On the other hand, thousands of illegal economic migrants predominantly youth are using risky and illegal ways to flee the country. In search of a better future, they are becoming victims of human traffickers every day.
One such example of human trafficking is the recent incident in which many Afghans lost their lives en route to Bulgaria. They were suffocated to death in a container while they were being trafficked. The Afghan authorities reacted strongly after they received the coffins of those Afghans who lost their lives.
It is a fact that the government is well aware of the sufferings of tens of thousands of Afghan youth who are hostages of the traffickers and that they are treated as slaves by them, but they pretend ignorance!
Another major issue is widespread corruption in visa regulations, but the Taliban government considers it expedient to remain silent. Why are many families desperate to leave Afghanistan? The answer is that many parents who are worried about their children’s future particularly about the education of their daughters would like to leave the country as soon as possible so their daughters have a better future.
The former system of governance was created by the international community under the dominant influence of the United States. It was an inadequate, unbalanced and incoherent structure, presumably based on the principles of “democracy”. However, it was a fragmented partnership between the former warlords and the elites who had returned to Afghanistan from the West to have their share of the pie. Both had a limited role and “controlled” authority. There was incompetence, corruption and nepotism prevalent in that system.
In order to ensure human and conventional regional security in Afghanistan, Afghans and the international community need to work on a sequence-based “roadmap” to that the isolation is ended, the recognition is obtained the concerns and worries of the world community are properly resolved and finally this country gets out of the current catastrophic situation.
It would have been better, had the current rulers instead of entitling their government as economy-oriented, moderate, broad-based and inclusive, would have tried to bridge the gap with people and ended the confrontation with the international community. Sadly, there seems little indication that the Taliban authorities are mentally prepared to initiate the above-mentioned reforms soon.
There is no doubt that due to various factors and ground realities, Afghans and the international community as a whole are willing to interact with the Taliban and they definitely do not want the repetition of the scenario created consequently to the September 11th terrorist attack. Even if the world community’s interaction with the Taliban regime has not been counterproductive yet and some hardliners within the Taliban leadership assume this interaction as a success of their policies and present it as proof for the continuation of their policies, but the continuation of the interaction with Taliban is still the only way we can tie our hopes to it and will most probably prove to be the best available option.
