Death of former Supreme Court judge in refugee camp outrages Afghanistan

Kabul, Oct 18 (EFE).- The death of a former Afghan Supreme Court judge this week in a refugee camp caused outrage Tuesday at the treatment of the thousands of Afghans who fled the country more than a year ago, after the Taliban came to power.

Judge Sayed Mohammad Yousuf Halim died Monday in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi while awaiting asylum in a third country, a situation faced by many other senior officials from the previous government after having to flee the country.

“I am deeply saddened by the death of a cadre and my friend, He had a great role in the enactment of laws and the reform of the judicial and judicial sector in Afghanistan,” former Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani posted on Facebook.

Ghani and his close collaborators fled the country in August last year as the Taliban gained ground while United States prepared for a pullout following an agreement between the Islamists and Washington.

Yousuf Halim, aged around 60, “died of a heart attack during midday prayers,” former Afghan judge Malang Hotak told EFE, adding that he was “an example of transparency” and fought a system plagued by corruption.

“He spared no effort to ensure justice and fight all forms of corruption within the judiciary,” he said.

The death of the former judge while awaiting asylum in a refugee camp is seen by many in the country as yet another example of contempt and discrimination against the Afghan people by the international community following the US withdrawal.

“To be honest, the death of (…) the former supreme court judge, is a kind of contempt for humanity and the Afghan people who still have families trapped in appalling conditions, or in Abu Dhabi refugee camps waiting to go to the US or Canada,” Afghan activist Sayed Jafar told EFE.

Those who managed to leave the country – many of them who collaborated with foreign forces, journalists, activists, and politicians – are only a small fraction of the tens of thousands that attempted to flee the Islamists’ control after the takeover.

Moreover, owing to the US’ chaotic and hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan amid a rapidly advancing Taliban, many Afghans left hurriedly and in an irregular manner to end up trapped in refugee camps in third countries awaiting asylum.

“The long process and the lack of clear answers from US Embassy officials” led many, despite threats from the Taliban, to return to Afghanistan, Ashraf Agha – who returned after a fruitless wait in one of these camps – told EFE.

Habibullah Mahboob, a former adviser to the US forces reconstruction team in Afghanistan, stressed that “the discriminatory treatment of Afghans abroad is deplorable.”

“The US and European countries do not help refugees. Not only did they close their borders to Afghans in danger, many of those who worked as collaborators are still stranded in camps in the Arab Emirates or Indonesia,” Mahboob told EFE. EFE

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