Abdul Razaq Khan, a former translator and assistant for Canadian media during the Afghan conflict, received a late-night message five years ago from a journalist he had guided in Kandahar. At that time, Khan was residing in Kabul after the Canadian exit from Afghanistan, working for USAID. In the summer of 2021, the Taliban were making progress towards Kabul.
The message expressed concern for Khan’s safety, to which he replied, acknowledging the dire situation. Now settled in Canada after a turbulent departure, Khan reflects on the loss of his job, home, and country, grappling with the events leading to the swift downfall of the western-supported government.
Having fled on foot across the Pakistani border just as Kabul fell to the Taliban, Khan, like many others, faced threats due to his work with Canadian media outlets. The Taliban’s resurgence resulted in the displacement of numerous Afghans and the reinstatement of a repressive regime erasing women from public life, stifling media freedom, and enforcing strict moral codes.
The Zan Times, an Afghan women’s advocacy group, highlighted the escalating violence against women, revealing a lack of accountability under Taliban rule. The organization’s investigations contradicted official reports, uncovering cases of abuse and violence against women falsely labeled as suicides.
In response to the crisis, western nations initiated humanitarian visa programs to evacuate high-risk Afghan individuals. However, reports from Local Staff International and AfghanEvac criticized the efficiency of these efforts, noting the challenges faced in evacuating and resettling vulnerable Afghans.
Canada, for instance, resettled over 60,000 Afghans, surpassing its initial target of 40,000 individuals. Despite these efforts, there are still many vulnerable people in Afghanistan under Taliban control, prompting calls to expand resettlement programs to fulfill the commitment made to those who assisted NATO forces and allied nations.