A Taliban fighter patrolled a street in Kabul after the organization occupied the city.
- The LGBTIQ+ people in Afghanistan are eager to leave the country.
- This was after the Taliban occupied the country.
- After the Taliban were arrested, dozens of people left the country.
Being gay or transgender in Afghanistan has never been easy. According to the LGBTIQ+ Afghans, this may be fatal now, and their fear of violence under Taliban rule is driving a frantic escape.
But how the evacuation works is another matter. There is very little actual support overseas, let alone the hope that Islamic radicals will let them into the airport.
“If I find a visa and a country allows me to leave, of course I will take all risks and leave,” said an Afghan gay student who was concealed in order to protect his name.
“Any country, but not here. Living here is meaningless to us.”
Quoting | World leaders react to Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
The 21-year-old is hiding indoors, paralyzed by fear of what might happen on the street. In the chaotic airport scene, there are almost no exit routes open, so the possibility of escape is high.
It is also unclear where LGBT+ Afghans may be welcomed, or whether sexual orientation or gender identity is the standard of automatic asylum in many countries around the world.
Canada has pledged to resettle 20,000 Afghans, explicitly including LGBT+ people in its pledge.
Canada is an outsider in providing such a clear guarantee.
Irish media reported that LGBT+ people will also become one of the 150 Afghan refugees he brought to the country. The Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
But in other Western democracies, including the United States and Europe, there is no such clarity.
On Monday, the day after the fall of Kabul, U.S. President Joe Biden wrote a memorandum appropriating US$500 million for “the protection of refugees, conflict victims, and other people at risk.” Unexpected emergency refugee and immigration needs”.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday that the United States will “bring vulnerable Afghans to safety” without specifying who. When asked whether this covers LGBTIQ+ Afghans, the State Department declined to comment.
Read | Afghan central bank governor flees, currency plummets during Taliban takeover
The United Kingdom stated that it will welcome up to 5,000 Afghans in the first year of resettlement programs that prioritize women, girls, religions and other minorities.
Similarly, it did not mention LGBTIQ+ Afghans, nor did it respond to Thomson Reuters Foundation’s request for comment.
Many European leaders are cautious about accepting any type of immigration, and some countries, including Australia, have explicitly rejected the influx of Afghans.
Turkey is strengthening the border wall with Iran, which is adjacent to Afghanistan, in order to clearly exclude Afghan immigrants.
secret
Rainbow Railway, the Canada-based LGBTIQ+ advocacy organization, has urged governments to help gay and trans-Afghan refugees.
“The public’s attitude towards LGBTIQ+ people is very negative, which leads LGBTQ+ community members to keep their gender identity and sexual orientation confidential to avoid harassment, intimidation, persecution and death,” it said.
Interpreter | How the Taliban planned the “political collapse” in Afghanistan
“Now, with the return of the Taliban, it is understandable that people are worried that the situation will deteriorate.”
American novelist Nemat Sedat is an Afghan homosexual who left his home country at the age of 5 and taught at the University of Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013. He told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that more than 100 LGBTIQ+ Afghans contacted him and were eager to flee.
“People sent me messages and told me,’What can we do? We will be wiped out. The Taliban will get rid of us and kill us,'” Saidat said in a video call.
Sedat said he was working with an American living in Kabul and lobbying his congressmen to try to arrange a flight.
The American contacted via WhatsApp and confirmed that he was at Kabul Airport, but said that the situation was “very bad” and he was not even sure how to let LGBTIQ+ people pass through the city safely.
Chaos engulfed the airport, with reports of stampede, Taliban militants turning away Afghans with travel documents, and women throwing babies over walls at American soldiers.
According to NATO and Taliban officials, 12 people have been killed in and outside the airport since Sunday.
