THE SITUATION

CIVIL RIGHTS.

With the collapse of the previous regime in Afghanistan, the situation has become perilous for all people who worked with the previous government or supported civil rights. This is especially the case with women who not only subscribed to Western values such as working and being educated, but even more those who actively campaigned to help women across the country.

Watch the story unfold about the situation. Skip to 15 minutes for the start of the discussion 'Crises in Afghanistan and beyond: What is Britain’s role?’:

A spell-binding analysis of the ramifications of a deal between the Saudi King and President Franklin Roosevelt struck at Bitter Lake (on the Nile) in the early c20th. The deal was that Saudi Arabia would sell the US oil as long as the US kept out of the Saudis’ efforts to spread Wahabism, via madrassas in Pakistan – spawning the Mujahadeen, Al Kaieda, ISIS and the Taliban. The US, NATO and Pakistan took key roles but the West was ‘played’ by the East. It draws salutary parallels between the invasions of Afghanistan by the British and defeats in the c19th and by the Soviets and Nato Alliance in the c20th and c21st and their outcomes. It also reveals how at the end of the cold war, the bipolar international system: East vs West, Capitalism vs ‘Communism’, Nato vs the Warsaw Pact – each with their regional client states in an ordered international system fragmented with the collapse of the USSR. The lower order issues hitherto suppressed by these over-arching divisions have since risen to the surface. Christendom vs Islam, Rich North vs Poor South hence migration to name but two lower order issues which have resurfaced.

Read more about the rescue efforts from Afghanistan, where Baroness Kennedy has helped to rescue female Afghan judges from the country:

Here is a link to Lyse Doucet's excellent radio series 'A Wish for Afghanistan':

Erasing femininity - for a compelling account of former women air crew in hiding and in fear of their faces and their lives, please see Christina Lamb's expose:

‘For a report of a vicious attack on a maternity hospital, see Christina Lamb’s harrowing account:’

In 33 years, I had never seen such brutality. We must not tolerate horrors such as the Afghan maternity ward massacre:

The UK encouraged Afghan women to take up top judicial roles. Now they need, and deserve, our help. Read more about Baroness Kennedy's 'Schindler's List:

Afghanistan: Prospects and Challenges. Members of the School of Politics and International Relations at Nottingham University have recently contributed to a new report on the future of Afghanistan foreign policy direction, following the collapse of Kabul.

Todd Landman: 'After twenty years of conflict and disruption, the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan that has unfolded after the withdrawal of the United States and its allies requires a concerted effort to assist the Afghan people across many walks of life. Flight from Plight provides much needed resources and assistance for Afghan civil rights activists and journalists to find safe refuge and rebuild their lives, where they can be free from fear and free from want.'

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Breaking News: Kabul Passport Office has re-opened but it is increasingly difficult (and expensive) to get passports issued. Some travel agents are enjoying the hospitality of the Taliban and so trust is a key issue with the people we are working with.

Visas for example to Pakistan are also increasingly difficult to get and increasingly costly. The Taliban have cordoned off all districts in Kabul and are conducting house to house searches.