Ukraine can be a model for helping those trapped in Afghanistan

From around the world, governments, NGOs and volunteers have poured support into Ukraine — from military assistance to medical supplies and humanitarian aid. Countries surrounding Ukraine have opened their borders to welcome the millions of Ukrainians seeking safety. These efforts to stand in unity with the people of Ukraine are admirable and laudable.  

The world’s attention on Afghanistan, meanwhile, which once offered harsh declarations and rhetoric, has evaporated. The vote to renew the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which tracks human rights violations and was focused heavily on the rights of women and girls, passed recently, but barely received news coverage except when Russia threatened to veto its renewal.  

Crises don’t happen in a vacuum. It is incumbent upon the Biden administration not to ignore, neglect or otherwise lose focus on Afghanistan, a crisis of its own making. The dire conditions of which have been compounded by the ongoing famine, economic strife and humanitarian disaster unfolding in front of the world’s eyes.

Food insecurity continues to affect the majority of the Afghan population, and rising food costs globally will only make it harder to provide nutrition to the most vulnerable, according to the U.N.-run World Food Program. Coupled with the war in Ukraine, (Ukraine and Russia produce one-third of the world’s grain) Afghans will face increased starvation. This harsh reality will also impact other conflict-stricken countries including Yemen, Syria, and Ukraine itself.  

Meanwhile, as war ravages Ukraine, the Taliban have used the “opportunity” to settle scores. Targeted killings, torture and forced disappearances of Afghans who worked alongside American forces have only increased while Western attention has been diverted.

Raids over the past few weeks have terrorized families, with thousands in hiding, fearing retribution and cut off from society at large — men, women and children who are essentially being held hostage in their own nation by the Taliban regime. Unable to work or support themselves, many spend their days in hiding contacting American volunteers pleading for help. More than six months after the U.S. withdrawal, those with U.S. approval, including American citizens and green card holders, are still waiting for evacuation flights.

At its current rate, it will take the State Department more than six years to evacuate just the Special Immigrant Visa applicants. This timeline does not include the thousands of others — vetted Afghan Special Forces and military pilots, at-risk women and human rights activists — who have applied for U.S. refugee programs. It’s time they don’t have.   

These concerns also do not address the violent extremism on the rise in Afghanistan, which is playing out in the public power struggle between the Taliban, the Haqqani network, ISIS-K and al-Qaeda.  

But there are immediate and long-term steps the Biden administration can begin to take to atone for its sins in Afghanistan, using the world’s response to Ukraine as a model. 

First and foremost, the administration must use its position with the C5+1 — a Central Asian diplomatic forum — to call on Afghanistan’s neighbors, such as Uzbekistan, to open their borders to the people of Afghanistan as Ukraine’s neighbors have done. Not only will this stem the illegal immigration flows out of Afghanistan, but it will provide safe haven for those seeking permanent resettlement elsewhere. To make this more palatable, the United States could also offer humanitarian aid, economic development projects and vocal praise to a willing nation.

Second, the U.S. and international community must explore 21st century solutions to these problems — from the use of digital currency to utilizing food distribution and aid networks built by U.S. veterans. This is an opportunity to rethink how we provide and distribute aid during a crisis. For example, the model developed by veterans using their special operations problem-solving skills to address immediate needs on the ground has ensured those unable to get aid through normal channels had food and heat this past winter.

Third, while veterans have been successful in their roles, the moral burden must be removed from the thousands of volunteers who have continued to assist those in Afghanistan. That responsibility lies with the U.S. government. The U.S. must uphold its commitment to finding safe and permanent resettlement options for those who worked alongside Americans for the past 20 years. The government must also fix the cumbersome bureaucratic process which currently mires thousands of Afghans and their advocates in red tape. And finally, the moral injury inflicted upon America’s veterans must be addressed.

As Ukraine has proven, we’ve seen what the world can do. It’s time to apply that same determination on behalf of the people of Afghanistan.

Heather Nauert is the former spokeswoman and acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs for the U.S. Department of State. Amy K. Mitchell is the former chief of staff for the Office of Global Women’s Issue at State. Both have been involved in evacuation efforts since August.