Staff and Students from UniSA Justice & Society, and our networks, write in support of urgent action to provide safety to those facing acute risk in Afghanistan. We believe that Australia has moral and humanitarian responsibilities that it is not currently meeting. As we watch the events in Afghanistan, we are deeply distressed. These events are causing unimaginable pain to our community. Our university currently has some 400+ students with Afghan heritage – students who have friends and family currently living in Afghanistan who have risked their lives to promote human rights and the rights of women. This is now a matter of life and death and we ask you act immediately and generously.

We know that you are already leading an emergency mission to evacuate Australian citizens and diplomats from Kabul. We implore you to enhance efforts to provide safety to the many hundreds of Afghans whose lives are at grave risk. We believe that the agreement to receive 3 000 Afghan refugees from the current crisis is inadequate and urge you to increase this number. We note that in 2015 Australia provided safety to more than 10 000 refugees from Syria. We call for the Australian government to issue priority refugee visas for Afghans and their families who have supported Australia and Australian aid programs without delay. Further to this, we urge you to follow Canada’s lead and establish a scheme to issue humanitarian visas, prioritising religious minorities, such as persecuted Hazaras facing ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Taliban.

While we support the Australian government’s statements that Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) holders will be granted extensions on their visas and not returned to Afghanistan, we argue that Australia should also provide permanent residency status for Afghan temporary migrants, refugees and asylum seekers currently in Australia to ensure their long-term security. Many Afghan TPV holders are from the Hazara community who have been one of the specific and ongoing targets of violence by the Taliban. Our researchers have highlighted that Afghan Australian community is the fastest growing community in recent years (https://doi.org/10.25954/5c90261b25e47 and demonstrated that the Hazara community have already made important contributions to the Australian community (https://refugeesrejuvenatingconnectingcommunities.lpage.com.au/ Australia should open the pathway for family reunification so that families who are in grave danger in Afghanistan can reunite with their loved ones in Australia safely.

We are concerned about the deep distress being experienced by Australia’s Afghan community. We have heard personally from Afghan members of our community telling us that their friends and family in Afghanistan are in grave danger and about the terrible violence within the country. We are watching alongside in disbelief as years of work to support human rights and the education, safety and autonomy of Afghan women is coming undone. The Afghan community in Australia are anxious with uncertainty for the future of their homeland and their people; this is impairing every aspect of their lives, particularly their mental wellbeing.

We hope Australia will provide genuine leadership at this time and provide safe asylum for thousands more Afghans who have assisted Australia to support human rights and women’s rights in their country and who, as a consequence of being a member of a persecuted minority group, are acutely at risk.