Afghans in Exile Meet on Fourth Anniversary of Taliban’s Fall.
On the fourth anniversary of Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban, the Hamburg parliament in Germany hosted a meeting today, initiated by the Left Party and a group of Afghan civil society activists.
The gathering aimed to bring the voice of the suffering Afghan people to the ears of state parliamentarians and the German public; a voice that has been stifled inside Afghanistan for four years under the pressure of repression, enforced silence, and despair.
The participants in the meeting strongly criticized the Taliban’s policies, calling the group’s record a clear example of political deception.
They said the Taliban claim in their official statements to be committed to human rights, but in practice, they have turned Afghanistan into a giant prison for women and girls: a ban on girls’ education beyond the sixth grade, widespread denial of women’s right to work, severe restrictions on movement, arbitrary detentions on false pretenses, threats and heavy financial fines against families, and temporary release after days or weeks of imprisonment.
According to them, these policies do not correspond to the Taliban’s promises and are simply a tool to consolidate male and ideological dominance over society.
One of the main themes of the gathering was a warning against the mass deportation of Afghan migrants from Germany. Last month, 81 people were returned directly to Kabul, a move that activists believe amounts to consigning them to an uncertain fate under Taliban rule.
The organizers of the meeting called on the German government to immediately halt this process and refrain from legitimizing the Taliban, including by accepting representatives of the group into the Afghan embassy.
The meeting discussed the widespread problems facing the Afghan people within the country, from economic collapse to political repression and ethnic discrimination.
The participants emphasized that the international community, especially Germany, should pay special attention to the situation of Afghans living in the country and avoid handing them over to a government that blatantly violates human rights.
The atmosphere of the program was filled with symbolism, with poems praising freedom and liberation from the Taliban tyranny and the performance of the song “My Land.” The playing of the tambourine at the end of the ceremony was an attempt to instill a sense of hope and to remind us that even in exile, the flame of freedom can be kept alive.
The main message of the gathering was clear and unequivocal: four years after the fall of Afghanistan, the Taliban have not only shown no reform in their behavior, but have also expanded the scope of their oppression and humiliation of women.
Any indifference or global silence in the face of this situation means complicity in policies that have turned Afghanistan into a doorless prison for millions of defenseless people.
