Security guards who work for the Australian embassy in Kabul have staged a peaceful protest on the streets of the Afghan capital, campaigning for access to visas and resettlement in Australia, fearing for their lives and the safety of their families.
In September, Australia – following the US and other coalition forces – will withdraw its military from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
It will maintain its embassy in Kabul.
The guards argue their work for the Australian government will expose them to Taliban retribution once foreign forces leave. Many in Afghanistan fear another civil war will seize the country, with the Taliban – resurgent across much of the country, and granted a seat at peace talks – seeking to target anyone with links to foreign forces.
“The Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield” and the prospects for peace are “low”, a bleak US intelligence report issued in April said.
Sources in Afghanistan have told the Guardian Afghans working for foreign governments are regularly targeted by Taliban insurgents. Employees have been shot, targeted with bombs, or run over by vehicles. Many have received death threats against themselves or their families.
A spokesman for the group of protesting guards said a representative was meeting with the Australian ambassador on Monday, and that many of those seeking passage out of Afghanistan had worked for Australia for more than a decade.
“Everyone knows about Afghanistan’s situation right now,” a spokesman for the group said.
“All 103 members want and request from the Australian government and minister for foreign affairs to not play with our lives, and pay attention to our demands and future.”
Australian runs a dedicated visa program to resettle locally-engaged employees from Afghanistan, where their work with Australia exposes them to the risk of retribution.
Since 2013, about 1,200 people have been granted humanitarian visas under the policy.
But Afghans who work, or have worked, with Australia argue that with just over 100 days until coalition forces leave, it is critical to remove people from the country now, and the existing policy is moving too slowly.
Security guards are acutely vulnerable: their job requires them to stand outside the embassy in Kabul for hours at a time, where they can be easily identified. They fear without foreign militaries in Afghanistan, they will be acutely vulnerable to Taliban attack.
The Guardian has approached Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade for comment.
