The self-declared Taliban government poses a serious threat to Afghanistan’s younger generation and has significantly increased the brain drain from the country.

The self-declared Taliban government poses a serious threat to Afghanistan’s younger generation and has significantly increased the brain drain from the country.

Report by Ahmad Soheil Partaw, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Afghanistan, one of the youngest populations in the world, has experienced deepening crises in the lives of its youth, especially girls, since the Taliban returned to power. Millions of young Afghans who once aspired to a better future now find themselves victims of the Taliban’s repressive policies, seeing no other escape but to leave Afghanistan and seek refuge in the West and Europe.

Widespread human rights violations and the erosion of the basic rights of Afghan citizens, particularly women and youth, have taken place under the guise of “Sharia enforcement” and “promotion of virtue,” now formalized under the so-called Promotion of Virtue Law. Corruption, ethnic favoritism, nepotism, unemployment, and poverty, alongside the replacement of modern educational institutions with jihadist schools and the Talibanization of society, have pushed Afghanistan dangerously close to cultural and social collapse.

Additionally, a pervasive atmosphere of fear and hopelessness about a dark and uncertain future, along with the loss of intellectual and mental security, has led to a rise in mental health issues and suicide rates among Afghan youth. Many families, fearing their children might join extremist groups like the Taliban or ISIS, encourage them to leave the country, resulting in an unprecedented migration crisis that threatens not only the future of Afghanistan’s youth but the entire society’s fate.

Exacerbating this despair is the global community’s support for the Taliban under the pretext of engagement. While the Taliban has failed to honor any of its international commitments, it has turned Afghanistan into a safe haven for global terrorists and continues to violate human rights more brutally each day.

Therefore, we, a group of members of the Arts and Culture Committee, who have fled the Taliban and the regime they impose on Afghanistan, call upon the international community not to recognize the Taliban’s self-proclaimed government and not to remove this group from their list of terrorist organizations.

We demand the downfall of the self-declared, oppressive, and disastrous Taliban regime in Afghanistan and urge the international community to increase sanctions and pressure on the group. We also ask for support in establishing a legitimate, democratic government in Afghanistan, one where young people can play an active and meaningful role.

Moreover, we call on the people of Afghanistan to not remain indifferent to the future of their children and the youth of this country and to take their responsibilities seriously in this regard.

Report by Ahmad Soheil Partaw, Islamabad, Pakistan.