Many in need of permanent protection remain stuck in ‘prison-like’ camps on Greek islands, leading refugee charity says
Just 271 Afghans were resettled in the EU in 2022, 0.1% of the 270,000 identified as in need of permanent protection, it has emerged.
Leading charity the International Rescue Committee accused EU leaders of “staggering neglect” of Afghan refugees with many remaining trapped in “prison-like” conditions on Greek islands.
Continue reading...Bread and Roses, co-produced by Lawrence, documents lives of three women after Taliban’s return to power
A documentary about the lives of three women living under the Taliban, co-produced by Jennifer Lawrence, has premiered at the Cannes film festival.
Bread and Roses, shown at a special screening on Sunday, follows three Afghan women in the weeks after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 after the withdrawal of US troops.
Continue reading...Refugees, including a special forces soldier and a political adviser, receive ‘notice to quit’ letters from home secretary
Afghan refugee families uprooted from London to Yorkshire earlier this year have been issued with eviction notices in the name of Suella Braverman.
This will be the fourth time that some of the families have been forced to move home, sometimes leaving jobs and schools, since being airlifted out of Kabul to the UK in August 2021. They were invited to the UK under Operation Pitting because at least one family member worked closely with the British authorities and it was believed that their lives would be at risk if they remained in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...With 20m people at the highest risk of famine for 25 years, farmers are desperately trying to kill the pests before vast swarms form
The northern “breadbasket” of Afghanistan is battling a potentially devastating outbreak of locusts that threaten to eat their way through up to a quarter of the country’s annual wheat harvest, the UN has warned.
After three years of disappointing, drought-afflicted harvests, Afghan farmers were expecting better this year – a much-needed boost for a country where nearly 20 million people are thought to be at the highest risk of famine in 25 years.
Continue reading...Islamic State suicide attack that killed 180 including 13 US service members occurred during US withdrawal from Afghanistan
The Islamic State leader behind the 2021 Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed about 180 people including 13 US service members has been killed by the Taliban, according to US officials.
The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, was killed in southern Afghanistan in early April as the Taliban conducted a series of operations against the Islamic State group, according to one of the officials. The Taliban at the time were not aware of the identity of the person they killed, the official added.
Continue reading...Exclusive: People who risked their lives and were evacuated to Britain were forcibly removed to Nepal days later
More than 100 Nepali guards who risked their lives to protect British embassy staff in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized back control were secretly returned to Nepal against their wishes shortly after being airlifted to safety in the UK, the Guardian can reveal.
Hundreds of Nepali nationals and a smaller number of Indian nationals who protected key institutions in Kabul were brought to the UK on an RAF flight during the chaotic evacuation of the Afghan capital by western countries in August 2021, as victorious Taliban forces closed in.
Continue reading...Josie Stewart, who highlighted failures in Afghan evacuation, is concerned by attempt to keep her legal challenge private
A whistleblower who was sacked for highlighting Britain’s chaotic response to the fall of Kabul has expressed frustration at government attempts to have her legal challenge against her dismissal held in private.
Josie Stewart, a senior official, was fired from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for giving an anonymous interview to the BBC about the failures in the handling of the Afghan withdrawal.
Continue reading...Officials say it will leave in May if Taliban cannot be persuaded to let local women work for organisation
The UN is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it cannot persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organisation, officials have said.
The warning comes after UN officials spent months negotiating with the group’s leaders in the hope of persuading them to make exceptions to a hardline edict this month barring local women from working for it, according to the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Achim Steiner.
Continue reading...Trial set down for 6 November for former military lawyer accused of leaking classified Australian defence information to journalists
Former military lawyer David McBride will have waited four years and eight months before facing trial for allegedly leaking classified defence information to the media.
McBride’s case was mentioned briefly in the ACT supreme court on Thursday morning, the latest step in protracted legal proceedings that have been in train since March 2019.
Continue reading...Review launched into operations in Afghanistan as men and women told not to go to work at least until May
The United Nations has launched a review of its operations in Afghanistan and asked all Afghan staff not to come to work at least until May after the Taliban barred its female staff from working.
The UN said last week that the Taliban, who swept to power in 2021, had communicated that Afghan women would not be able to work for the global organisation. Taliban officials have not commented on the order.
Continue reading...Biden administration releases review saying president’s options were ‘severely constrained’ by decisions of predecessor
The US government has released a review of the chaotic 2021 troop withdrawal from Afghanistan which largely lays the blame on Donald Trump, saying President Joe Biden was “severely constrained” by the decisions of his predecessor.
The White House on Thursday publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the US policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions. The administration said most of the after-action reviews, which were transmitted privately to Congress, were highly classified and would not be released.
Continue reading...Calls described as ‘great relief’ after Kevin Cornwell, 53, and an unnamed man were detained in Afghanistan
The families of two British men held in custody by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been able to speak to them for the first time since their arrest.
Kevin Cornwell, a 53-year-old charity medic, and another British national, who has not been named, were detained by the Taliban’s secret police on 11 January.
Continue reading...Charity medic, hotelier and ‘danger tourist’ reportedly arrested by Taliban’s secret police in January
Three British men including a charity medic and a self-styled “danger tourist” are being held in custody by the Taliban in Afghanistan, it has been reported.
The Mail on Sunday said Kevin Cornwell, a 53-year-old charity medic, and another British national who manages a hotel for aid workers in Kabul, who has not been named, were detained by the Taliban’s secret police in January.
Continue reading...Sadai Banowan violated ‘laws and regulations of the Islamic emirate’, says local Taliban official
A female-run radio station in Afghanistan’s north-east has been shut down for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, a Taliban official said.
Sadai Banowan, which means women’s voice in Dari, is Afghanistan’s only female-run station and started 10 years ago. It has eight staff, six of them female.
Continue reading...Despite MoD assurances, applicant and former British Council worker still being asked for Taliban-stamped papers
An Afghan who worked with the British Council and is applying to come to the UK has been told to retrieve documents from the Taliban or risk rejection, despite assurances earlier this month that such demands would end.
The Ministry of Defence apologised on 18 March after an investigation found that applicants to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) scheme were required to provide birth and marriage certificates in English and bearing stamps from Afghan government departments.
Continue reading...More than 78,000 Afghan refugees relocated to the US as part of Operation Allies Welcome, but few have gained permanent status
On the day he turned 24 earlier this month, Asmatullah checked the status of his asylum request online, hoping that an approval would be his birthday gift.
When he realized that his case was still pending, he took a deep breath and looked up at the California sky, more than 7,000 miles away from the city he grew up in but that he fears returning to.
Continue reading...Ministers announce refugees in hotels will be offered move to a home on condition they accept first offer
People who fled the Taliban in Afghanistan are at risk of homelessness in the UK, humanitarian groups have warned, after ministers announced plans to move the refugees out of hotels and into homes on the condition they accept the first offer made to them.
Afghans living in “temporary bridging accommodation” in the UK under the UK’s two resettlement schemes would be given additional support to find settled accommodation after 18 months in hotels, the Home Office said.
Continue reading...Matiullah Wesa, head of Pen Path, beaten and arrested outside a mosque after prayers
The founder of a project that campaigned for girls’ education in Afghanistan has been detained by Taliban authorities in Kabul, his brother and the UN have said.
The Taliban government last year barred girls from attending secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where there is a ban on education.
Continue reading...Slashing funding to the programme from a promised £7m to just £1m sends a ‘stark message to the world’, says Save the Children
The UK government has cut almost £6m in funding to a programme in Afghanistan supporting vulnerable women and girls.
Save the Children said it has been told by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that it will receive just over £1m of a promised £7m to support more than 100,000 people to access essential basic services such as healthcare and education.
Continue reading...Lord Justice Haddon-Cave issues call for evidence, saying it is critical law-breakers be referred to authorities
A judge investigating allegations of more than 50 summary killings by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan has issued a call for anyone with evidence to come forward, saying it was critical that law-breakers be referred to authorities.
Launching his independent inquiry, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said he was “very hopeful” there would be “full cooperation” with his work, which he said was ultimately about restoring the reputation of the military and “moral authority”.
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