January 05, 2022
Protecting The Hazara People Of Afghanistan Is A Moral Obligation The World Is Failing To Meet
Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in September, more than 2,800 Hazara Shiites were forcibly evicted from their homes. As an ethnic and religious minority, targeted violence from the Taliban and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) is not new but is worsening under the Taliban’s rule. The rapid increase in human rights violations against the backdrop of a century-long pattern of systemic oppression has increased the risk of the Hazaras facing imminent ethnic cleansing.
Although the Taliban’s spokesman in Qatar said that the Taliban now has “a policy of not having any kind of discrimination against the Shia people,” the Hazaras have been continually attacked at schools, weddings, and mosques for their support of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan as well as their involvement with Iran to fight against Sunni Muslim forces in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
The Iranian-backed Fatemiyoun Brigade recruits Hazara and Shia Afghan refugees, offering them payment, citizenship, and other legal protections in return for serving in the brigade. As persecution and targeting of the Hazaras continues, relations between Tehran and the Taliban regime will sour. In response, the brigade may look to recruit more Hazaras, who may be more willing to fight due to intense political and social isolation.
Read the full article from Global Security Review.
More from CNAS
-
Legacies of Repression in Egypt and Tunisia: Authoritarianism, Political Mobilization, and Founding Elections
About the Book: When an authoritarian regime collapses, what determines whether an opposition group will form a political party, be successful in mobilizing voters, and surviv...
By Alanna C. Torres-Van Antwerp
-
Commentary
Removing the label of terrorism should take effort on behalf of the offending party, something the Islamic Republic is unwilling to provide....
By John O'Malley
-
Reports
The United States and Israel have a long history of working together as close allies. Theirs is a relationship based on common values and security interests. In recent years, ...
By Jonathan Schanzer, Shira Efron, Martijn Rasser & Alice Hickson
-
Commentary
Washington’s large Middle East presence is more than just wasteful....
By Becca Wasser & Elisa Catalano Ewers