On Monday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that the US will terminate the temporary protected status program for Afghanistan, which could lead to the deportation of over 9,000 Afghans currently living in the US. Many of these Afghans aided American national security efforts during the Afghanistan war and all evacuated to the US in 2021 following the US withdrawal from the country and the Taliban’s swift takeover.
Noem’s rationale for ending the program for Afghans is that the conditions in Afghanistan have improved sufficiently: “Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country.”
This is an extreme miscalculation of the security situation in Afghanistan. According to Amnesty International, the Taliban have arbitrarily arrested, forcibly disappeared, tortured, and executed former government employees, human rights defenders, and journalists. The same fate potentially awaits the very people to be deported. They were at risk when they were evacuated; they will be more at risk if the US now abandons them.
Moreover, women in Afghanistan are facing such extreme and systematic discrimination by the Taliban – no school, no work, no travel or healthcare without a male chaperone, no speaking out loud in public– that legal scholars say it amounts to “gender apartheid.”
Additionally, Afghanistan is grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis, with over half the population experiencing food insecurity and needing assistance.
Just over a week ago, the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security (GIWPS) hosted a group of exiled Afghan women for a convening about the dire situation in Afghanistan and paths forward. Participants discussed how TPS exilees currently in the US would face extreme jeopardy if sent back: for many, it could lead to imprisonment or death. Some participants shared stories of their own families being attacked and killed for things as simple as teaching children in their own homes.
Terminating TPS is not just a mistake. It’s a life and death decision. Extending TPS and expanding it is the only morally right thing to do, and there’s still time to right the ship.
To speak to a member of GIWPS staff or an Afghan woman leader in our network about this issue, please contact Sarah Rutherford at sdr56@georgetown.edu or 412-965-9275.
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About Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security (GIWPS)
Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security seeks to promote a more stable, peaceful, and just world by focusing on the important role women play in preventing conflict and building peace, growing economies, and addressing global threats like climate change and violent extremism. We engage in rigorous research, host global convenings, advance strategic partnerships, and nurture the next generation of leaders. Housed within the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, the Institute is headed by the former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at giwps.georgetown.edu and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @giwps and Instagram @georgetown_wps.
Media Contact
Sarah Rutherford
sarah.rutherford@georgetown.edu