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Written by Venus Aradhya, 15, WA, USA
The loss so far
3,586 US and allied troops were killed
75,971 police officers were killed
78, 314 civilians were killed
84,191 opposition fighters including the Taliban were killed
The future for women
Although the Taliban says it has changed and will not be taking control over women’s rights, due to past issues, many women are fearful of what's to come. There may be extremely strict regulation over clothing, jobs, education, and even leaving home. They may be stripped of all their rights like they were before. In their past rule, they were infamous for stripping women of most rights and education. This is when Malala became a hero for standing for her rights and most women were finally able to regain freedom. This may occur once more and many women are afraid of the effects.
Terrorism
The Taliban taking over may leave Afghanistan as a training ground for terrorism. Taliban officials say that they will not be using any Afghanistan land for terrorism crimes and activities and they will adhere to US regulations, however that is still very uncertain. They say their only goal is to implement islamic government, not take away human rights or breed terrorism. However, many experts are saying that the Al-Qaeda, masterminds behind 9/11 and several other terrorist attacks, are hand in hand with the Taliban as they continue to support each other. Another thing is the Taliban are not a centralized organization as they have many strings so they may faction due to beliefs on what to do.
Countries cut funds
As the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan, many countries like the US have raced to cut the funds supporting the country. President Biden halted a shipment of money previous to the falling of the government, and the International Monetary Fund has also frozen the funds for Afghanistan. Now, because of this, the state of the economy in the country is extremely fragile and their success will be determined by the decisions of these countries. The effect was seen this week when the value of the Afghani currency plunged to a record low. This will result in food prices soaring and inflation taking control. This may cause the currency to collapse and will cause tragedy on everyone left in the country. 90% of Afghans live on less than $2 a day and the refusal of support will weaken one of the world's smallest economies.
People fleeing for safety
Currently over 550,000 refugees have fled for safety from the Taliban. However due to many restrictions on their exits, their options are limited on where they can go. The most refugees end up going to Pakistan with over 1.5 million having gone there so far in 2020. On top of that, the most end up in Iran, Germany, Turkey, Austria, France, Greece, Sweden, Switzerland, India, Italy, and the UK in respective order for the greatest to most.
Countries helping out
Iran set up emergency tents for refugees to stay in after fleeing. However, once conditions improve they are required to leave Iran.
Although Pakistan said they would be sealing the border once the Taliban took over, however there is reportedly still one port open for people to cross over into.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have imported several ten thousand refugees into their land with open hands and have set up camps to help out.
The UK will in the long term accept 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan and 5,000 this year alone. They are focusing on accommodating women and children first as well as other in danger minorities from the Taliban since they will be the ones in the most danger and targeted if stuck there.
The US who is reportedly one of the causes of this has authorised 500 million dollars to help migrate the refugees in this time of emergency. They will also be accepting applicants for a visa but haven’t specified the amount yet.
Canada, similar to the UK, will be accepting 20 thousand refugees but will be focusing on those in most danger such as women and government workers.
The European Union has been avoiding touching on this subject due to the 2015 migrant crisis when they let in many refugees.
Germany will be accepting refugees from Afghanistan but haven’t specified the amount. She received much criticism in 2015 due to the migrant explosion so her government is working on helping build safe areas in neighboring countries to Afghanistan.
Austria and Switzerland have both refused to take up any refugees from Afghanistan and will be working on deporting refugees.
Turkey will work on stabilizing the government and funding them but will not accept refugees. They are working with Iran to build a wall to keep immigrants out.
Sources
