Norwegian Astrid Sletten leads the relief work on the ground in Afghanistan, but must sit quietly in negotiations with the Taliban and let the men speak in peace.
The Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director in Afghanistan, Astrid Sletten, was on holiday in neighboring Pakistan when the chaotic tragedy broke out at Kabul airport last week. She landed late in the evening on Wednesday 18 August.
While thousands of people flocked both outside and inside the airport with a desperate desire to flee the Taliban, Sletten went upstream to return to his office in Kabul.
– It was important for me to return to Kabul. The country director must be in place on the ground, she told Nettavisen by phone from Kabul on Monday afternoon.
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Tens of thousands of desperate Afghans have made a pilgrimage to Kabul International Airport in the past week. The hope is that they can be evacuated together with international embassy personnel, journalists, aid workers and defense personnel. Dozens of people have died as a result of crowds and skirmishes, and no later than Monday there was an exchange of fire at the airport with a fatal outcome.
– On the outside, the Taliban stood and received me
The huge crowds at the airport made it completely impossible for Sletten to get to Kabul. She was therefore “stranded” at the airport for several days.
– It was completely impossible to get out because of the crowds. I was driven to the Norwegian field hospital (inside the airport editor’s note) and asked them if they could help me out of the airport. I was taken care of and given a room there. I got little sleep the days I stayed at the airport. It was still crackling from the guns. I received good treatment and did not experience any discomfort. On Saturday, I was finally escorted safely out of the airport. On the outside, the Taliban stood and received me, Sletten says.
The United States and NATO forces have been waging a bloody war against the Taliban for a full 20 years. Last week, everything was turned upside down. The Taliban and US forces are now cooperating on the evacuation at the airport. The US military is inside while the Taliban is outside the airport.
– It is a tragedy what is happening here. It will not end until the Americans have packed up and left Afghanistan, Sletten says.
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US President Joe Biden has previously announced August 31 as the deadline for the evacuation of US forces in Afghanistan. Several NATO countries, including the United States, have stated that it may be appropriate to extend the evacuation deadline. However, the Taliban has pointed out in an interview with Sky News that August 31 is a “red line” and that there could be consequences if the evacuation deadline is not met.
– This is the worst I’ve seen
Although Sletten recovered completely from her stay at the airport, she witnessed tragedies that leave marks for life.
– It was a struggle to get out of the airport. I am not afraid of gunshots and have worked in the industry for over 20 years. I have been in Afghanistan for nine of the years. And I have been to places that are described as hell on earth, such as Somalia, South Sudan and Sierra Leone during the civil war from 2001 to 2003. But this is the worst I have seen. It was heartbreaking, says Sletten.
– When I left the airport I was only a few meters from the “front line” and saw these faces of the children who had been crying for several days because of all the chaos, she says.
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– I’m not such a suicidal mission freak. I feel more secure in Kabul now than I did three months ago. But I’m glad I got out of the airport. I had a high heart rate at the airport, and it was a surreal experience to be handed over to the Taliban who accompanied me to the car. The first thing the Taliban said to me was, “Welcome back, Madame Sletten.” He asked if he should carry my suitcase, but I said no, says Sletten.
She goes on to talk about the great contrasts from life at the airport to a much quieter city of Kabul.
– Kabul has zero traffic jams, many shops are open and it is a bit like Friday (Muslim holiday editor’s note), as it would be on a Sunday at home. It’s such an unnatural mood.
The Taliban spent about a week and a half recapturing all of Afghanistan after most of the US and NATO forces left the country after 20 years of military presence. The infamous Taliban movement controlled what they referred to as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Public executions at football stadiums, amputations of hands and feet, and women’s segregation were commonplace during the Taliban’s reign.
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Many Afghan men and women now fear a return to the terrorist regime that refused girls to go to school and banned women from working. The Taliban leadership has declared that it must respect women’s freedoms and the right to work in accordance with “Islamic law”.
The Taliban have also promised that they will not retaliate against Afghans who cooperated with NATO and the United States during the 20-year military operation. The Taliban have in some cases promised amnesty, but Western tongues point out that one should not care too much about what the Taliban says, but emphasize what they actually do.
– The hijabs are tighter than usual
Taliban soldiers have already torn down posters of women adorning the exterior of Kabul’s hair and beauty salons. It is said that many Afghans get rid of western clothes, that men let their beards and hair grow, and that women find the traditional costumes to cover themselves when they move out in public.
– There have always been people with the burka here, but those who wear the hijab and head scarf are perhaps a little more packed and tight around the head than otherwise. Many women also go to work without covering their face, but most stay at home now, says Sletten.
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NRC is one of several international aid organizations that maintain humanitarian efforts in the country despite the Taliban’s takeover. Among other things, the organization will fight for girls’ right to schooling. It involves new rounds of negotiations with the Taliban.
– NRC communicates with all parties to the conflict. We have been communicating with the Taliban and operating in Taliban-controlled areas for many years. It is not new for us to have negotiations with the Taliban, Sletten says.
– So far, we have received one demand from the Taliban
NRC has 1,600 local employees in the country, and several of them are women. This week, the organization’s female local employees have begun to return to work.
– So far, we have only received one demand from the Taliban. And it is that women and men should not share an office together. We have not received a requirement for a mahram (accompanied by a male guardian, editor’s note) for our female employees who work in offices. But there are demands for mahram for our female employees who are out in the field. Our female employees are offered mahram if they wish. It is almost considered a type of safe transport, says Sletten.
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Sletten says that NRC receives relatively good treatment from the Taliban.
– The truth of the Taliban is that they depend on us NGOs because they do not have the resources or the capacity to deal with the humanitarian crisis themselves. And this is going to be a humanitarian disaster. The physical pressure we saw at the airport will eventually spread out into the country and on to Pakistan and Iran. These are large crowds of desperate people who are without water, food and shelter. Afghanistan is a country with freezing temperatures in the winter, she points out.
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– Better served by a male country director
Sletten says that all aid organizations in Afghanistan have put much of the aid work on hold pending new guidelines from the Taliban. Therefore, she spends her days negotiating with the Taliban in Kabul.
– We have set the “pause button” for all our utilities. Although the top leadership in the Taliban has said all the right things, this must also be communicated to the local Taliban commanders around the country. The Taliban leadership must come up with concrete, local guidelines for how humanitarian organizations should continue to work, she says.
The plain participates physically in the negotiations with the Taliban, but is forced to remain silent while the men speak.
– I am a real feminist, and it goes a long way to say this. But I believe in the long run that NRC will be better served by a male country director. That is actually the case. I’m lucky because I have a male, local employee who is a senior. In negotiations with the Taliban, I have to bite the bullet and pretend that he is the one who decides. I have to sit completely still and not be allowed to say anything. I prepare him well before each meeting and give him talking points. I also give him yellow notes during the meeting, says the country director.
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– That’s how everyday life is now. This is not a criticism of the Taliban, but just a description of my working day. It is perfectly ok to have such a work situation in the short term, but it does not work in the long run. I have a contract that expires in June next year, but I do not intend to extend it. It is also not uncommon to move on after two years in one place, says Sletten, who has lived and worked in Afghanistan for a total of nine years.
– One of the reasons why the Taliban accepts that I attend the meetings is because I dress in the local clothes and show respect for their culture. In addition, I am over 50 years old, and then you are at least a grandmother in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has respect for the elderly. Respect for the elderly goes to both women and men, she says.
– Do not let Afghanistan be a forgotten crisis
In the next few days, all Norwegian defense forces will return home from Afghanistan after 20 years of effort. Sletten therefore has a prayer that the media will continue to follow the war-torn country in the time after the NATO operation.
– I have a wish for the Norwegian media. Do not forget Afghanistan when the Americans have left the scene and the dust has settled. Do not let Afghanistan be a forgotten crisis, but continue to follow the country, she says.
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