Is there an Underground railway for afghan women?

[chilling19]

I've had a look but can't find one. Now they are not able to speak in public we are in Handmail's Take Back tterritory.

They are no longer able to speak in public, we need to get them out. Anyone?

I agree - it's horrific what's happening to girls and women in these countries. What's happened to men to go along with it? To their sisters daughters mothers?

the thing is I'm not sure which adjacent country they would flee to
remember fit healthy young men flee dangerous countries all the time, there's a reason women don't

That would be a dream solution

They can't go out without a man accompanying them. They can't get to many western countries including the UK because the visa situation is very particular. Bordering countries like Pakistan don't see a problem.

Imagine all the men who we've told their wives and partners to LTB. They would totally get in line with the Taliban. Too many men in high places who don't understand why women are in so much danger.

An underground railway is desperately needed.

I do also think this is something hugely missing from the immigration debate. Too many people coming into the UK illegally and they're mostly young men, because physically they can do it. But of course that means as we're already overrun then there is less effort to offer refuge to those who need it most like Afghan women.

There was a huge opportunity missed to get more women out when the Taliban took over, it was obvious they were going to go this route despite the lies they told.

Yes. The women would need to be accompanied by a male posing as a family member; they'd likely need ID and a reason for travelling in case they're stopped. Then, once they're over the border : Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia or China, what then? It's unlikely they'd be accepted as refugees, so they would need people to help them along, and money to bribe border guards etc. It would be a huge undertaking, the distances would be vast, and the women and their children would be at serious risk. I can't see how it could be done, although someone with more foresight than me may.

There isn't one because, let's face it, the world doesn't give a shit about women.
There's a real conundrum about aid as well. Give aid, help keep the Taliban in power. Don't give aid, the suffering of women and children will be even worse.

The refugee flow from Africa and Asia to Europe being dominated by men, people excuse/explain it by saying the journey is too unsafe for women. They'll just get raped and assaulted on route. Oh yeah, who's raping and assaulting them then?

It’s a hideous situation and I genuinely can’t believe the world isn’t in uproar about it. I don’t understand why the western Muslim population isn’t shouting out about this. We have many high profile Muslims who could be highlighting this. There is a few lone voices - women but it’s not enough. We had an MP stand up in the HP yesterday choosing to speak against the banning of cousin marriages instead.

I wish we could send a plane and allow all the women that want to go - to come here with their kids. These are the true refugees. The women in Iran have been forgotten about too. How can the world just accept it?

Is banning cousin marriage on the cards then?
That's good news (although can't believe it'll ever happen).

This is the question I keep coming back to, why isn't there a large enough resistance to treating women as second class citizens, or barely citizens at all?
In Iran too, women are making protests in the street and then being captured and killed. Are no men protesting about this too?
Are they all just brain washed or fed propaganda to believe or agree to this?

And yes to the refugee situation, the people needing to flee the most desperately are women...

If there is one it would be inadvisable for anyone with knowledge to post that on a public forum.

Do the women desperately wish to flee with their children and without their husbands?

0.6% of the UK population are asylum seekers. We are "overrun" by 0.6%?

In Europe, all Afghan women are automatically considered refugees based on sex and nationality. But the decision doesn't include the UK because, of course, we decided that we didn't want to be part of Europe.

Are we blaming all men for the actions of a small minority? Someone asked whether Iranian men are joining the protests in Iran - well yes they are, and they are being disproportionally killed by the state for doing so (https://abcnews.go.com/International/men-now-targeted-iranian-regime-women-protest-equal/story?id=103291751)
The assumption is that Afghan men all agree with the Taliban and want to enforce these conditions on women. That wasn't the case of the same men only a few years ago. But when faced with a brutal regime that cares for the rights of nobody, undoubtedly many are too scared to speak up, or believe that if they and their families keep their heads down that everything will be ok.

Whilst I am entirely in favour of granting Afghan women asylum (as Europe does) it is too little too late. There are no routes to legitimately claim asylum in the UK from outside the UK - one of the biggest drivers for "small boats". And it is unrealistric, even with a drive from multiple countries, to relocate all the Afghan women who might want to leave, which they would not be able to do anyway. It was very obvious that, with the withdrawal of troops, the country would again fall into the hands of the Taliban. They were no less a threat when we withdrew than when we entered. Syria has just demonsrated what even a small group of armed men can do if they are motivated enough - hopefully Syria will not go down the same route, but only time will tell.

And just to add - the majority of the "young men in small boats" are Afghan, and very likely legitimately asylum seekers - being male in Afghanistan is no passport to safety. Their families often take enormous risks to get them out of the country because (a) they are not "safe" and (b) young men are not only more likley to survive the journey, but if successful they are more likely to be in a better position to support their families and, they often hope, to help them to reach safety too.

People in small boats are not the problem - the failure of the UK to step up to the mark in considering asylum claims from third countries drives the demand, and criminals exploit that demand to profit from human misery. It is actually incredibly easy to leave Afghanistan - in many places you can simply walk across the border. The problem is that there is nowhere for people to go when they do. 7.7 million Afghans are in camps and resettlement areas in Pakistan Iran alone. If that was your choice, wouldn't you be thinking about what you could do to reach a place where work and a decent and safe enviornment were available?

There was some interesting reporting at the time the Taliban came into power from Afghan women about how some of their male acquaintances were laughing about how they'd have to marry them and give up work, basically welcoming the Taliban point of view, and how disappointed they were that so few men stood up against the destruction of women's rights. How they'd believed there would be more opposition from men and the disillusionment when it didn't materialise.

I'll try and dig it out tomorrow.

Over of Xwitter, Baroness Emma Nicholson has been working to help women judges and human rights activists get out of the country. She has appealed in the past for financial support for AMAR international, although not recently.

Except for Ukraine, the women were allowed to leave but the men weren't.

When the female students had to leave one university, male students were mocking them and laughing. I can't remember where I read this, suspect the BBC, but it stuck in my mind, these were young men who should have understood equality. The young women maybe even thought they were friends. It just made me think that it's there, just lying under the surface with many (most?) men.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/an-afghan-woman-in-kabul-now-i-have-to-burn-everything-i-achieved

Can only find this.

There was a well organised and secret project to help women who had had senior political positions to escape Afghanistan and seems to have been sucessful.

If there is anything else like this for women who dont have high status, we wont know about it because it will only work if it is secret!

In the meantime this is a news story about how some women have found a route out of Afghanistan, but presumably will now be closed given it has been made so public. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-65794106

But what might be worth trying to do is how to help the women there who are with great bravery continuing to offer education secretly. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/secretly-educated-escape-afghanistan-now-s-working-help-women-still-rcna144527

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c97e668pdnwt

I believe JK Rowling helped fund the escape of some women judges to Scotland as they had given judgement against Taliban members in divorce & domestic violence cases & knew they were on a hitlist.

But it’s hugely risky.

There was a terrible story of a woman judge who went into hiding & found what she & her family believed to be a smuggler who could be trusted. The family were summoned to collect her mutilated body from the morgue: she’d been tortured to death.

Apart from the trust problem, you can’t just walk across the mountains to freedom. They’re called the Hindu Kush (the killer of Hindus) for a reason.

The effects of deportation on refugees, especially women who face severe restrictions from the Taliban, can have adverse social, economic, and psychological consequences for four main reasons.

First, deporting refugees to Afghanistan, especially those who have been away for decades, thrusts them into a society that has drastically changed. The Taliban’s imposition of strict rules on women and girls has severely curtailed their freedom and access to fundamental rights like education, employment, and mobility. For these women, returning to a place where their rights are severely restricted can lead to feelings of isolation, marginalization, and loss of agency.

Second, women who were working or running businesses now face significant barriers to economic participation due to the Taliban’s restrictions. The ban on women working outside the home and operating companies such as beauty salons deprives them of financial independence and contributes to economic instability for their families. This can lead to poverty, limit access to essential services, and heighten vulnerability to exploitation.

Third, the loss of autonomy, coupled with the fear of reprisals for defying Taliban decrees, can lead to anxiety, depression, and trauma for women. Moreover, the uncertainty of their future in an unpredictable and conflict-ridden environment adds to their psychological distress.

Fourth, the Taliban’s systematic violations of the rights of women and girls, as evidenced by the numerous decrees [12] restricting their freedoms, raises serious human rights concerns. Deporting refugees back to a country where their fundamental rights are under threat not only disregards their well-being but also undermines international commitments to uphold human rights and protect vulnerable populations.

Full article https://cmsny.org/mass-deportation-detention-afghan-refugees-from-pakistan-focusing-on-women-091724/