Human rights activist pleads for Canadian support

Government urged ‘not to leave women, girls in Afghanistan alone’

OTTAWA—The morning after Canada’s military withdrew from Kabul, when dozens of Afghans and 13 American military personnel died in the terrorist attack on the city’s airport, a woman named Najiba pondered the darkening future.

“My message to the Canadian government is not to leave women, girls in Afghanistan alone. This is a time that we need your support. I know that you have been supporting Afghanistan for the last 20 years,” Najiba, an Afghan human rights activist, told The Canadian Press on Friday.

“But unfortunately, our politicians, they didn’t care about the people of Afghanistan. … But it is not the fault of the ordinary people of Afghanistan. It is not the fault of women, girls and children,” said Najiba, whose full name is being withheld to protect her safety.

Canadian taxpayer dollars have funded various projects that she has worked on that were designed to raise the rights of women and girls over the last 20 years.

The swift return to power of the Taliban earlier this month brings fear that the clock is about to be turned back two decades to when women and girls were stripped of basic freedoms, including the right to work or go to school, Najiba said.

The end of Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan has left an unknown number of Canadians and their families trapped in the country, as well as vulnerable Afghans exposing them to Taliban reprisals.

But it also left behind scores of women and girls that Canada helped transform into parliamentarians, judges, prosecutors, activists and others, said Corey Levine, a Canadian specializing in women’s rights for two decades with international organizations in Afghanistan.

“There was a whole generation that benefited from international engagement in Afghanistan, and my heart goes out to them,” said Levine, who returned from a seven-month stint in Afghanistan earlier this summer.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Canada would continue to work with its international partners “to pressure the Taliban to not reverse the tremendous progress specifically made for women and girls in Afghanistan because of Canadians and other allies’ efforts over the past two decades.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said 500 more Canadians were flown out of Kabul on an American flight Thursday after Canada's military mission ended as part of the staged withdrawal plan by the U.S.

International Development Minister Karina Gould also emphasized that Canada has not turned its back on those women and girls.

But for Najiba, there were no signs of escape routes on the horizon. Instead, women are girding for a return to a dark past.

“When Canada and the U.S. are withdrawing from Afghanistan, it would put people at greater risk,” she said. “Women, the human rights activists will not be allowed to raise their voices to criticize the government.