Afghanistan's religious minorities fear persecution under Taliban Rule
Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and non-Sunni Muslims make up Afghanistan's religious minorities -- and the fear is they will be targeted under Taliban rule.
There's a government office that watches for potential religious persecution within the State Department called the Office of International Religious Freedom. 7News' Ashlie Rodriguez spoke with its former Ambassador-at-large Sam Brownback, who is working to bring awareness to the issue. He argues we cannot forget the plight of religious minorities trapped in Afghanistan and they deserve safe passage to countries willing to take them in.
"I think the United States needs to grant them special visas," Brownback said. "I think we need to recruit the countries surrounding them to grant them special visas specifically for religious minorities. Because we know what's going to happen to them, we are not blind on this. And I think also that most people don't recognize that genocides around the world typically happen to religious minorities. The granddaddy of them all of course is the Jewish Holocaust that happened during WWII. But the most recent one is the genocide of the Uighurs in Western China and they're almost all Muslims."
This is a call to action made by the United Nations Human Rights Chief as well who said in a video posted on Twitter, Afghanistan's ethnic and religious minorities are at risk of violence and repression. They, along with women and girls, are now living in fear. Brownback is urging the State Department and the international community to get involved.
