Latest news with #TalibanTakeover
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Trump says he will help Afghans stuck in the UAE
By Doina Chiacu , Reuters US President Donald Trump. Photo: Getty Images/CNN Newsource US President Donald Trump has said he would help Afghans detained in the United Arab Emirates for years after fleeing their country when the United States pulled out and the Taliban took power. Trump, a Republican who promised a far-reaching immigration crackdown, suspended refugee resettlement after he took office in January. In April, the Trump administration terminated temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghans in the US. "I will try to save them, starting right now," Trump said in a post on Truth Social that linked to an article on the Afghans held in limbo there. Trump cited news website "Just the News" as saying that UAE officials were preparing to hand over some Afghan refugees to the Taliban. Reuters has not confirmed the report. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The UAE, a close security partner of the United States, agreed in 2021 to temporarily house several thousand Afghans evacuated from Kabul as the Taliban ousted the US-backed government during the final stages of the US-led withdrawal. Nearly 200,000 Afghans were brought to the US by former President Joe Biden's administration since the chaotic US troop withdrawal from Kabul. Canada agreed in 2022 to resettle about 1000 of the Afghans still held in the UAE after a US request. It is unclear how many remain in the Gulf country. Some countries have forced Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan. Nearly 2 million Afghans were returned from Iran and Pakistan in the past seven months, the United Nations said last week. Germany on Friday deported 81 Afghan men to Afghanistan amid a tightening of refugee admissions. Some other European countries are pushing to tighten asylum rules in the bloc. In the United States, Democrats have urged Trump to restore temporary protected status for Afghans, saying women and children could face particular harm under the Taliban-led government in place since 2021. Refugees include family members of Afghan-American US military personnel, children cleared to reunite with their parents, relatives of Afghans already admitted and tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the US government during the 20-year war. Shawn VanDiver, president of the #AfghanEvac advocacy group, urged Trump to follow up on his post with action. "President Trump has the authority to do the right thing. He should instruct DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the Department of State to expedite processing, push for third-country partnerships, and ensure that we never again leave our wartime allies behind," he said in a statement. -Reuters
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Retreat from Afghanistan began as a farce, then it was a scandal, now it's a cover-up
The retreat from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021 began as a farce, then it was a scandal and now it's a shoddy cover-up. The farce was when the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab remained on his holiday sunbed in Crete rather than return to work during the height of the evacuation crisis. Politics latest: It was a scandal because around 200 people were killed in the chaos, with distressing pictures of terrified Afghans clinging to the wings of moving aeroplanes at Kabul airport. And now we learn that in a massive cover-up, the Tory government of Rishi Sunak to gag the media from reporting a data breach that put 20,000 Afghans in danger. Over the years, superinjunctions granted by UK courts have been condemned for enabling celebrities and sports stars to cover-up extra-marital affairs, drug-taking and other secrets. The superinjunction granted to the government in 2023 to conceal a secret scheme to relocate Afghan nationals was obviously entirely different and no doubt sought for honourable motives. But it was a cover-up nonetheless and not so honourable because it hid a data blunder exposing names and contact details of 18,000 people who had applied for asylum in the UK under a resettlement scheme. The scheme had been set up by the government in 2021 to provide asylum for people who had worked with the UK armed forces and could be at risk of Taliban reprisals for working with western forces. In the Commons, the current defence secretary, John Healey, said it was "deeply uncomfortable" to be prevented from reporting the data breach blunder to MPs until now. The ministers involved in seeking the gagging order were the former defence secretary Ben Wallace and the then armed forces minister James Heappey, he said. But while most MPs welcomed Mr Healey's apology, it's probably fair to say that if it hadn't been for tenacious campaigning by media organisations the superinjunction might not have been lifted by the High Court. One Tory MP, Mark Pritchard, accused the defence secretary of "wriggling" and said: "The fact is that he is justifying this superinjunction and not telling parliament, the press, the public and, unbelievably, the Afghans who were potentially in harm's way." And, among a number of individual cases highlighted by MPs, Liberal Democrat Calum Miller told MPs that "in the chaos of withdrawal" a constituent who left Afghanistan was promised by British officials that his pregnant wife could follow him. "Two years later, we have still not kept that promise," said Mr Miller. "My constituent's wife and child continue to move around in Afghanistan to evade the Taliban and my constituent is so desperate that he is talking about returning to Afghanistan - despite the risk to him - to be reunited with them." Reform UK's Zia Yusuf hit out at the Tory government's asylum policy, writing on X: "24k Afghans secretly granted asylum, costing British taxpayers up to £7bn. "The government covered it up. Who was in government? Home secretary: Suella Braverman. Immigration minister: Robert Jenrick." Later, Mr Healey was asked on LBC's News Agents podcast if the official responsible for the data breach is still employed by the government. "They are no longer doing the same job on the Afghan brief," he replied. Hmm. That suggests the person hasn't been fired, which will alarm those MPs who remain extremely concerned about this whole fiasco. Asked whether he would have taken out the superinjunction if he had been defence secretary in 2023, he replied: "Very, very unlikely." But when he was asked if he could rule out the use of superinjunctions by the Ministry of Defence in the future, Mr Healey said: "Well, you can never say never." So while Mr Healey will obviously be determined to avoid a farce in future, it appears that the threat of another Ministry of Defence cover-up in future hasn't gone away.
Sky News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Retreat from Afghanistan began as a farce, then it was a scandal, now it's a cover-up
The retreat from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021 began as a farce, then it was a scandal and now it's a shoddy cover-up. The farce was when the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab remained on his holiday sunbed in Crete rather than return to work during the height of the evacuation crisis. It was a scandal because around 200 people were killed in the chaos, with distressing pictures of terrified Afghans clinging to the wings of moving aeroplanes at Kabul airport. And now we learn that in a massive cover-up, the Tory government of Rishi Sunak took out a superinjunction to gag the media from reporting a data breach that put 20,000 Afghans in danger. Over the years, superinjunctions granted by UK courts have been condemned for enabling celebrities and sports stars to cover-up extra-marital affairs, drug-taking and other secrets. The superinjunction granted to the government in 2023 to conceal a secret scheme to relocate Afghan nationals was obviously entirely different and no doubt sought for honourable motives. But it was a cover-up nonetheless and not so honourable because it hid a data blunder exposing names and contact details of 18,000 people who had applied for asylum in the UK under a resettlement scheme. The scheme had been set up by the government in 2021 to provide asylum for people who had worked with the UK armed forces and could be at risk of Taliban reprisals for working with western forces. In the Commons, the current defence secretary, John Healey, said it was "deeply uncomfortable" to be prevented from reporting the data breach blunder to MPs until now. 1:59 The ministers involved in seeking the gagging order were the former defence secretary Ben Wallace and the then armed forces minister James Heappey, he said. But while most MPs welcomed Mr Healey's apology, it's probably fair to say that if it hadn't been for tenacious campaigning by media organisations the superinjunction might not have been lifted by the High Court. One Tory MP, Mark Pritchard, accused the defence secretary of "wriggling" and said: "The fact is that he is justifying this superinjunction and not telling parliament, the press, the public and, unbelievably, the Afghans who were potentially in harm's way." And, among a number of individual cases highlighted by MPs, Lib Dem Calum Miller told MPs that "in the chaos of withdrawal" a constituent who left Afghanistan was promised by British officials that his pregnant wife could follow him. "Two years later, we have still not kept that promise," said Mr Miller. "My constituent's wife and child continue to move around in Afghanistan to evade the Taliban and my constituent is so desperate that he is talking about returning to Afghanistan - despite the risk to him - to be reunited with them." Reform UK's Zia Yusuf hit out at the Tory government's asylum policy, writing on X: "24k Afghans secretly granted asylum, costing British taxpayers up to £7bn. "The government covered it up. Who was in government? Home secretary: Suella Braverman. Immigration minister: Robert Jenrick." Later, Mr Healey was asked on LBC's News Agents podcast if the official responsible for the data breach is still employed by the government. "They are no longer doing the same job on the Afghan brief," he replied. Hmm. That suggests the person hasn't been fired, which will alarm those MPs who remain extremely concerned about this whole fiasco. Asked whether he would have taken out the superinjunction if he had been defence secretary in 2023, he replied: "Very, very unlikely." But when he was asked if he could rule out the use of superinjunctions by the Ministry of Defence in the future, Mr Healey said: "Well, you can never say never." So while Mr Healey will obviously be determined to avoid a farce in future, it appears that the threat of another Ministry of Defence cover-up in future hasn't gone away.
Washington Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
The UK says thousands of Afghans have been brought to Britain under a secret resettlement program
LONDON — Thousands of Afghans who worked with British forces have been secretly resettled in the U.K. after a leak of data on their identities raised fears that they could be targeted by the Taliban. The British government disclosed the existence of the resettlement program on Tuesday. A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to Britain after the Taliban takeover of their country was released in error in 2022, and extracts were later published online.
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
On The Mountain - A Short Film With A Big Message
A still from the film, On The Mountain. Fernando Rocha Released last year, On The Mountain, is a touching production set against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Inspired by real events, the film follows the journey of Rabia Noori (a teacher from Kabul), delicately shining the spotlight on the psychological anguish of those impacted by war. Starring an almost all-Afghan cast and written by an award-winning Pakistani-Dutch filmmaker, Anya Raza, On The Mountain made its US debut this year on WETA, the PBS affiliate channel, based out of Washington D.C. Currently presenting her film at screenings in Pakistan and abroad, Raza speaks to Forbes Life about what drove her to make a film about an 'unexpected hero, whose perspective we never get to hear.' SR: You have an upcoming screening at the Dutch embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, this week. What has it been like touring with On The Mountain? AR: Since our premiere in April 2024, we've travelled the world from Lebanon to Bolivia, the US, Canada and Pakistan, and have been featured at festivals, community centers and classrooms. We've had plenty of love along the way, snagging a few awards and nominations to boot. Picture Motion even helped us with a discussion guide to make it easier to host. The positive responses we've had have shown how shared experiences and access to new perspectives are essential for building healthy communities. The PBS deal felt like a full circle moment for me - having the opportunity to premiere back in DC, the heart of decision-making, and plant that little seed of, does it really have to be this way? Anya Raza with members of her team during the filming of her film, Still Here. Gaby Sosa SR: Have you always been driven towards activism and social work? AR: Activism has always been a part of my personality. From a very young age, I was always busy with social causes, making friendship bracelets to 'save the animals' (as my 7-year-old self would say) or picking up garbage to fight pollution, or even accompanying my mother to volunteer at a local burn victim unit. I've been raised with eyes wide open to what is happening around me. We live in a devastatingly beautiful world that contains multitudes, of both joy and despair. What can we do to make this world a more balanced and peaceful place for everybody, not just ourselves? Much of my career was dedicated to humanitarian work. Oftentimes, my job was to counter conventional narratives and transform beneficiaries from statistics to three-dimensional people, in order to raise awareness and funds. To me, this work has always felt deeply personal. Anya Raza Mobeen Ansari SR: Rabia Balkhi, the 10th-century poet from Afghanistan, inspired one of your characters in the film. Could you tell us more about how she influenced the role of Rabia Noori? AR: Rabia Balkhi lived over a thousand years ago, and is the first poet known to write in Persian. In many ways, a symbol of defiance against patriarchy, she spoke truth to power beautifully. Inspired by her fearlessness and honesty, we show our protagonist strong and poised as the family battles for their survival in On The Mountain. Rabia Balkhi fought until her dying breath - to be with the man she loved, a slave, named Baktash. This is what inspired me to show the love and tenderness in a family, and how they care for each other at a time of crisis. A reminder that love is universal, and limitless. To paraphrase the iconic author, Arundhati Roy, the world keeps telling us who to love, how to love, and how much. As if they know that to love, is to move mountains. SR: How do you see your parallel passions, filmmaking and activism, creating much-needed conversations in the near future? AR: In my last film, Still Here (2022), you see Omar, a survivor of state-sanctioned torture, wrestle with his healing journey. You don't have to show the violence to recognize the damage it causes. My hope is to always stand up for the voices that fall through the cracks. With my films, my hope is simply for the audience to be captivated by a story they've never heard before. The first step is getting people to care. With all my work, my goal has always been to break down silos, encourage empathy and work towards practical and fair solutions. At my core, I believe we need a radical redistribution of power and wealth, so we can finally start putting people over profit. A behind the scenes photo from On The Mountain. Satchi Hover SR: What has been the biggest roadblock that you experienced during the making of On The Mountain? AR: I wanted to make a piece of art that didn't need any footnotes. I wanted people to watch, and even if they had no connection to global politics the last two decades, that they would think, this isn't right. From writing to shooting to editing, we had to work in short bursts, because emotions were so high. In between takes, Zaki, in real life Sayed Akbari, was receiving frantic calls from his distraught nieces in Kabul because schools for girls were shutting down. This is real life, for many. During the edit, I had to tow the line between exposing the truth, without sensationalizing it. I had an incredible team, all who had experience with resettlement, and with them we were able to iterate until we made a gem that not only felt raw, but right. A still from Anya Raza's film, How She Moves (2020) which shone the spotlight on Indu Mihta, a renowned Pakistani dancer and choreographer. The film won 7 awards and was showcased at 27 global film festivals. Aisha Linnea SR: Talk to me about the funding aspect for independent filmmakers like yourself. How do you navigate those crushing funding challenges? AR: You don't. The industry doesn't make sense. On one hand we're starving for new stories, on the other, new perspectives don't get the time of day. Millions of dollars are being pumped into reality TV, while actual real-life stories don't get airtime. We have short attention spans but streamers don't plug short films. All we can do is keep looking for like-minded people and hoping that they recognize what you have to offer. SR: What's next for you Anya? You mentioned that your next film is currently in post-production… AR: It's a short film on time, healing and friendship, told through a variety of creatures, human and otherwise, in a public park. It's a lighter piece with heavier undertones - a reminder that joy is cathartic for healing, and that we must be there for one another. I also have a feature in development, which I'm very excited about!
