Two years after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, Glasgow Afghan United sends solidarity to the people suffering under this rule.

Our diverse organisation, which includes people of various tribes and ethnicities, condemns this illegitimate regime, which is perpetrating gender apartheid against women, extra-judicial killings, forcible displacement of people in areas where resistance is strongest, and genocide against the Hazara people.

The United Nations is amongst the global organisations to condemn the Taliban regime based on its treatment of women and girls and its actions towards minority and marginalised groups. We urge global leaders to stand against the regime, to refuse to give it any legitimacy and to support a return to democratically-elected government.

The return of the Taliban has brought a return of fear, crippling poverty and rampant injustice. A country of 42 million people is being held hostage by a group that does not represent them and that represses their culture, their education and their human rights. Many more are forced into exile and separated from their communities and families and endure difficult conditions including poverty and insecurity.

Tragically, some who seek the safety of the UK die by drowning in the English Channel for lack of safe and accessible asylum routes. Meanwhile, poverty, hunger and lack of access to healthcare means those living in Afghanistan suffer preventable disease and malnutrition.

This is suffering on a catastrophic scale, all linked to the same group of men – a group which is not an Afghan organisation and which draws its strength by bringing its supporters in from outside the country.

Glasgow Afghan United is dedicated to the values of unity, equality, peace and diversity. We urge the international community to join us in sending a message of hope and solidarity to the people of Afghanistan and in raising their voices with us against the Taliban.