Scots Afghans reflect on three years since fall of Kabul

In scenes reminiscent of the United States’ withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, thousands scrambled to board evacuation flights at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Tragedy struck as more than 170 Afghans and 13 US service members were killed in a suicide bomber attack on August 26th. With the Americans gone and the Afghan army defeated, the Taliban quickly cracked down on freedom of expression and severely restricted the rights of women and girls to work and study. 

Mohammad Asif, the director of the Afghan Human Rights Foundation, which is based in Glasgow, didn’t mince words, placing the blame for the resurgence of the Taliban squarely on the shoulders of the United States military.

Read More: 

• Year of Home Office delays in bringing female Afghan medical students to Scotland

• Tory MP stands down as chair of Defence Committee after praising Taliban

• 'Gender apartheid' - What is it like to live in a country at war with its own women?

Speaking to The Herald, he said: “It’s quite sad that after 20 years of occupation, the USA and NATO left at two in the morning. You ran away and left them with weapons.”

Criticising the United States’ ‘nation building’ efforts after the invasion in 2001, Asif remarked: “They replaced the Taliban with warlords, drug lords, and mass murderers. [Afghanistan] is an open prison, and I blame the UK and America. They spent billions on the wrong people and the wrong solutions.”

Asked if the UK Government could do more for Afghan refugees, Asif said: “Most of the new arrivals are put in places with lots of issues. People are grateful for sanctuary, but people need to be able to rebuild their lives.”

Similarly, community organisation Glasgow Afghan United (GAU), which focuses on incorporating Afghans into wider Scottish society, also released a statement reflecting on the last three years.

Abdul Bostani, a local SNP councillor and the managing director of GAU, told The Herald: “It is hard to express what it means to lose your country. In the hands of the Taliban, Afghanistan is lost to us - stolen by the terrorist Taliban.

“They hold the country without legitimacy, having not been chosen by the people in a democratic election, and they hold it in an iron grip, persecuting women and minorities, denying girls their education, cutting off the independent media and ignoring human rights. 

“They have separated our families and denied us the chance to live together in peace, and we mourn what has been taken.”

Despite the challenges faced by Afghan ‘New Scots’, many are “building new lives” as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers; whilst remaining cognisant of the plight of their loved ones back home.

People flee Afghanistan (Image: US Air Force/AP)

Bostani added: “We will continue to raise our voice for the people of Afghanistan. We will continue to urge the UK Government and the international community not to legitimise this brutal terrorist regime. 

“And we will invite others who respect human rights and human life to join us in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.

“What is lost can be regained. We live for the day that democracy and freedom return to Afghanistan.”

150 miles away, in windswept Aberdeen, charity worker and entrepreneur Hossa Skandary-Macpherson has worked tirelessly to ensure Afghan refugees are supported while resettling in Scotland. 

“What’s happening right now in Afghanistan is a tragedy,” she tells me. “Afghanistan was one of the first countries to give women the right to vote”, she adds, referencing a 1919 law which permitted female suffrage. 

“Escaping the environment doesn’t mean you escape the problem,” Skandary-Macpherson observes, emphasising the importance of ensuring resettled Afghans feel safe and welcomed in the UK.

Taliban fighters take control of the presidential palace (Image: AP)

“We are grateful to the UK and Scotland for taking refugees, [but] they can do more. I know asylum seekers aren't allowed to work, but creating opportunities to volunteer is important.”

Skandary-Macpherson lists a host of initiatives she hopes to begin in Aberdeen; including a special gym for women fleeing war, an Afghan cricket team, and regular English lessons for new arrivals. Yet, money is tight, especially at the local council level. A properly funded budget for refugees and asylum seekers is needed.

As for the future, Skandary-Macpherson is convinced that education will provide a way out of the Taliban’s grasp, “because knowledge is power.” Likewise, campaigner Asif contends that diplomacy is the only way to break the cycle of war which has lasted for forty-five years. 

“Military action is not the solution for Afghanistan. We want something for Afghanistan that works for Afghans.”