The Afghan embassy in Canberra has quietly closed its doors, lowering the country’s tricolour flag and dimming one of the last remaining lights of a fallen democracy. The decision, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reportedly followed a request from the Taliban and has left members of Australia’s Afghan community on edge.
In the first couple of years of Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghan embassies around the world remained hubs of resistance, flying the old flag and providing consular services. The Canberra embassy had been a safe haven for Afghan soldiers, rights activists and officials who feared persecution, issuing documents to help citizens with private, financial, educational and other needs.
The closure is another blow for people on the brink of losing identity and hope. For the bustling diaspora, including members of the Afghan female cricket and football teams living in exile, this represents a further erosion of trust.
On Australia’s part, there seems to be reluctance to fight the Taliban on a diplomatic front, instead choosing to ignore the country altogether. But for those Australian soldiers, diplomats and aid workers who lived through the war, together with the Afghans who made huge sacrifices for the promise of a fair and free future, the embassy’s closure is heartbreaking.
