‘Above all, I’m human’: Afghan women’s Aussie aid plea
Hope is strong but not permanent.
Vulnerable Afghan women trying to find safe haven in Australia are pleading for their voices to be heard as they try to avoid torture, sexual assault, forced marriage and death under Taliban rule.
In a groundbreaking action under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Australia has vowed to hold the regime accountable in the top international court.
But as this largely symbolic case unfolds, the women continue to face brutal repression by the repressive fundamentalist Islamist regime, which bans their education, forbids them from playing sports and denies them access to medical treatment.
The three women are desperately trying to help Australia’s legal case, and they only want safety in return.
Parisa Azada was arrested by the Taliban in 2024 for her activism for women’s rights.
He details how he was hung from the ceiling, beaten repeatedly, and tortured for days.
Ms. Azada said the violence left her with serious injuries to her right eye and ear, chronic pain in her back and neck, as well as internal problems.
The journalist remains holed up in Pakistan without a valid visa and is forced to move frequently to avoid arrest and deportation as his reluctant host country imposes illegal crackdowns on Afghans there.
“If I am deported to Afghanistan, I will face serious risk of arrest, re-torture and even death due to my past activism and open opposition to the Taliban,” the woman told AAP via an encrypted messaging app.
Her situation has become even more complicated following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, whose edict to halt immigration applications left her in limbo.
Although activists in Australia have offered to support and host him, his lack of close family in the country makes his visa eligibility here difficult.
Nearly 25,000 permanent humanitarian visas have been issued to Afghan citizens, with a further 4,800 allocated for 2025/26, according to Home Office figures.
But demand far outstrips places, with Afghan nationals submitting 140,000 applications for offshore humanitarian visas and Australia having only 20,000 places in its 2025/26 total program intake.
Priority is given to certified, locally employed employees who have previously assisted the Australian government, their immediate families, and the families of current refugee and humanitarian visa holders.
All three women are on a list of high-risk individuals that Azadi-e Zan, an Australian advocacy organization that helps Afghan women, has provided to several ministries in recent months.
Of these, 20 have a link to Australia, while the other four (including Ms Azada) are described as very high risk but have limited visa pathways.
They appealed for clemency from the interior minister because it was difficult for them to register with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees despite being members of multiple at-risk minority groups.
It is stated that the ministry does not sufficiently prioritize humanitarian visas for high-risk Afghan women, especially under a stream that includes vulnerable minorities.
Ms Azada, who is registered with UNHCR, says her story could be used as testimony in Australia’s case against the Taliban at the International Court of Justice.
““As a direct survivor of Taliban violence and human rights abuses, I believe my story can help expose their brutality and support the quest for justice.”
But the expedition request has so far been rejected, with the ministry saying all humanitarian applicants are in similarly challenging circumstances and that priority streams have already been determined.
Progress in the case against the Taliban has been slow; More than a year after it was announced on the sidelines of the 2024 UN General Assembly, limited information was available.
Negotiations and arbitration are required before formal court proceedings can be initiated, but the Taliban is not stepping in on this.
While a court challenge against an authoritarian regime that has shown little interest in addressing human rights abuses may seem futile, the case has important symbolism.
Legal expert and former Australian ambassador to the Netherlands Matthew Neuhaus said this included drawing attention to national obligations under international law, as well as increasing international pressure on nations to take action against the Taliban and further isolate its leadership.
“You can encourage the women of Afghanistan, you acknowledge that there has been a violation and you are ready to take it as long as it takes,” she said.
Najma and her family are still in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan in late 2022 because her father was a provincial representative before the Taliban regained control.
The Taliban arrested and tortured his father after returning to power in 2021 for helping NATO forces counter the group.
He was only released on the orders of local elders before going into hiding with his family.
Najma, whose full name is kept secret for security reasons, also fears for her own safety as a student and human rights activist.
“Going back to Afghanistan is an unthinkably terrible thing,” he said through a translator.
She had already fled to the Afghan capital, Kabul, when her village was captured, but she had heard reports that the Taliban had closed the local school and forced women to marry members.
Najma, along with her parents and siblings, applied for a humanitarian visa at the end of 2021 and registered with UNHCR.
He praised Australia’s humanitarian program as a beacon of hope.
“But this requires a lot of patience; it’s very slow,” he said.
Farzana lives alone as a student in Iran, but her visa will expire in January.
His parents, brother and sisters live in Australia, but he still has difficulty obtaining a visa.
“This will be very dangerous for me,” he said in a telephone interview from Iran.
When he tried to leave to study in Iran, the Taliban took his passport, and thanks to his uncle’s intervention, he managed to get it back.
She has since fled Afghanistan and has no one to support her when she returns, leaving her in greater danger as single women face greater restrictions in public without a man to accompany them.
Ms Azada expressed disappointment that the international community had forgotten the plight of Afghans after a long US-led war that ultimately failed to oust the Taliban.
He said his mental state deteriorated so much that he twice tried to end his life.
“I really want to be free, someone should hear my voice… I am an Afghan woman, but first and foremost I am a human being,” she said.
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