The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has called on the government to extend all possible assistance to protect human rights in Afghanistan.
In separate letters sent to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, HRCM noted the Asia Pacific Forum (APF) has expressed concern over possible human rights violations by the Taliban, who have seized control over Afghanistan earlier this month. Noting both the Maldives and Afghanistan are members of APF, HRCM said the Maldives must extend all possible assistance to alleviate the human rights situation in Afghanistan. As such, the commission called on the government to assist the efforts undertaken to protect the rights of women, children and innocent civilians who are suffering in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan civilians and foreign citizens have been gathering at the airport gates in Kabul in hopes of being airlifted out of the country. A bomb attack led by the Islamic State (IS) at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26 killed over 70 Afghan civilians, including families with small children, waiting at the airport.