Britain Helps to Evacuate The First Group of LGBT Out of Afghanistan

A surge in refugees from Afghanistan has been taking place since the Taliban took Kabul in August (Photo: STR/AFP)

 

 A group of LGBT+ Afghans has arrived in Britain, the first since the Taliban’s return to power in August caused panic among gay and transgender Afghans, who feared persecution and even death under the Islamists’ rule.

The evacuation of the 29 Afghans is “hoped to be the first of many” in the coming months, Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, hours after a Taliban spokesman said LGBT+ rights would not be respected.

Thousands of Afghans including LGBT+ people, women and officials linked to the previous administration rushed to flee the country after the Taliban’s swift return to power on 15 August, but many were unable to board foreign evacuation flights.

“We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country,” British foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement, adding Britain would continue to defend “the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want”.

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Among the group are students and activists who had repeatedly stood up for equality for the LGBT community in Afghanistan, the Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO) said.

Members of the group will stay in “bridging accommodation”, a foreign ministry spokesperson said, declining to give details about their legal status or how they were able to leave Afghanistan, citing the need to safeguard the route.

During the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, there were reports of gay men being stoned to death in official executions.

Safe houses are being established for the Afghans, who arrived on Friday, said Sebastian Rocca, chief executive of Micro Rainbow, a charity supporting LGBT+ refugees. “Of course, they are in a new country, in a place they’ve never seen before. Some of them don’t speak the language and they don’t know the system,” Rocca said.

The FCDO said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were being rescued from Afghanistan because they are at risk of potential discrimination and assault as a result of the Taliban takeover following Nato’s exit from the central Asian country.

Since then , the UK has helped more than 1,300 people, including British and Afghan nationals, to leave Afghanistan. 

Officials said the foreign secretary, along with Stonewall, Britain’s biggest LGBT+ rights group, and Canadian organisation Rainbow Railroad, had intervened to ensure this first group gained safe passage to the UK this week.

Further vulnerable LGBT Afghans are expected to arrive in the UK in the coming months.

Nancy Kelley, chief executive of Stonewall, said her organisation had been campaigning to bring vulnerable Afghans to the UK for the “last few months” and vowed to continue to push for international support to help those still in the Taliban-ruled country.

“The situation is likely to remain extremely dangerous for some time,” she said.

The British government said the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme would remain open to provide protection for people at risk.

The scheme will, the FCDO said, prioritise those who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech, and the rule of law.

It will also focus on evacuating vulnerable people, including women, girls and members of minority groups at risk.