The Responsibility to Protect and the Plight of Afghan Refugees: Examining the Gaps in International Law

Abstract

The events in Afghanistan in August 2021 concerning the Taliban’s power led to one of the most urgent questions regarding the protection of refugees and forced displacement. Over this event, the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P or IFR) has come to the agenda that focuses on the prevention of such acts and the protection of people who are potential targets of group violence. The Afghan case shows that despite the critical mission of R2P, there are significant shortcomings when it comes to applying it in practice, thus demonstrating the weaknesses and incoherencies in the international approach to the Afghan issue. The rushing fall of Afghan government and subsequent evacuation of residencies paved way for these shortcomings to be realized. R2P demands the international community to step in when a state is unable to protect its own people from genocide, war crimes, criminal expulsion, and crimes against humanity. In the IRAQ, constant insecurity existed and immediate dangers to the lives of millions of people were seen with the return of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, including women, children and minorities. Thus, the down side of this report embraces the fact that the international intervention of this crisis has been untidy and incoherent in physical terms owing to the R2P theoretical frameworks disconnect from its application. Some countries have had a hard time to grant asylum and the necessary support to Afghan refugees which explain real-life failures in the implementation of R2P principles in humanitarian crises. The situation of Afghan refugees has clearly revealed that there is a dire necessity for solid framework of international protection for the persecuted people. The faults of the present form of R2R approach, or the lack thereof in the context of evolving and diverse scenarios like Afghanistan, carry implications on the need for rethink and proper reform so that the international community will be prepared for timely and harmonized action. Therefore, ensuring that the realities on the ground, during conflicts of the future correspond to the commitments in the international legal instruments is a paramount necessity for preserving the notion of human rights and humanitarian protection. The study of Afghanistan presents a historical narrative that still raises the issue of the difference between coined perception and reality, which provides an opportunity to develop and improve ideas on the protection of the weak population in the future.

Keywords: Refuges, International Law, R2P Principles, Afghans, Human Rights