It has been four years since the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan, and since that day, there has been a dramatic deterioration in rights and freedoms, with extrajudicial killings, repression of women's rights coupled with the ongoing targeting and persecution of ethnic groups.
The Morrison Government took a positive step in 2021 by providing an additional 16,500 humanitarian places for people from Afghanistan. However, this was below the 20,000 called for by the community. Now that this program is coming to an end, more needs to be done to support the rights and freedoms of people from Afghanistan, not least with those who have a connection to Australia and Australia's involvement in two decades of war in Afghanistan.
With a quarter of a million applications for protection received by the Australian Government following the fall of Kabul, the Albanese Government must increase the humanitarian intake, at least to the levels it promised when in opposition. It must also resource the processing of these applications so people have an answer and some certainty as soon as possible, not a decade in the future.
The Albanese Government can help the people of Afghanistan by allowing the people who sought asylum by sea, many of whom are from Afghanistan, and who are in Australia, to have a pathway to permanency. It is unimaginable that the people who sought asylum by sea over a decade ago, who are our friends and neighbours, will ever be sent back to Afghanistan. They must be treated with dignity and have a pathway to permanency.
Furthermore, there are many people from Afghanistan trapped in limbo in Indonesia following a cruel and arbitrary ban by Australia in 2014 on resettlement from that country. There is absolutely no reason why this Abbott-era ban on refugees from Indonesia should still exist, it must end.
Ethnic groups such as the Hazaras have faced a history of repression, violence and structural discrimination by Governments and ruling parties in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, we have seen a return to impunity for those committing atrocities and the displacement and execution of Hazaras. The basic rights of Hazaras, particularly women, have been suppressed.
The Greens are concerned that inaction from the international community may lead to further escalations and a higher risk of genocidal violence against the Hazaras.
Across the country, there is also systematic oppression and domination imposed on women and girls under the Taliban, and the Greens acknowledge the gender apartheid occurring in the country. Once again, providing safe humanitarian pathways to seek safety is a life-saving necessity.
As countries like Iran and Pakistan seek to target, repress and expel people from Afghanistan who fled four years ago, Australia has a moral responsibility to act.
