UK: Protesters rally at Parliament Square in solidarity with Afghan people

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Protesters rallied at London’s Parliament Square on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, as Taliban forces seized control over the country.

The protest coincided with an emergency debate by MPs on the UK’s response to the crisis.
“For us, all the hope is gone. Everything is gone. Whatever we achieved, whatever the country achieved in the past 20 years, it’s all just vanished,” said Emran, an Afghan citizen and ex-British Forces worker who came down to show support.

“We thank the UK government for announcing that 20,000 people will be relocated here, to the UK. However, I ask the UK government to prioritise the interpreters and their families, parents and siblings,” commented Refi, another member of the Afghan diaspora in the UK.

The UK government announced on Wednesday that it would be offering asylum to 20,000 Afghans as part of a five-year resettlement scheme.

The Afghan government collapsed over the weekend as Taliban forces took Kabul, with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country and the US having evacuated its embassy staff from the capital.

Prior to the Taliban’s seizure of power, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the US, among other world powers, had been pushing for an end to the conflict in Afghanistan.

The Taliban is designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations Security Council. The US meanwhile has not placed it on its Foreign Terrorist Organization list while Russia has designated it a terrorist group since 2003.

In July 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow had started “to establish contacts” with the Taliban seven years earlier to communicate ‘concerns’ regarding security in the region.
On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State Dominic Raab said that “engagement with different partners,” including Russia and China, would be required to “safeguard regional stability” going forwards.

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