Taliban offers amnesty to Afghans who fled country

A top Taliban official said on Saturday that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would not be harmed if they come back. Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice”. The offer comes days after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The measure largely bars Afghans hoping to resettle in the United States permanently as well as those hoping to go to the US temporarily, such as for university study. Trump also suspended a core refugee programme in January, all but ending support for Afghans who had allied with the US and leaving tens of thousands of them stranded. Afghans in neighbouring Pakistan who are awaiting resettlement are also dealing with a deportation drive. Almost a million have left Pakistan since October 2023 to avoid arrest and expulsion. Akhund’s holiday message was posted on the social platform X. “Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,” he said. “Nobody will harm them.” “Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,” he added, and instructed officials to properly manage services for returning refugees and to ensure they were given shelter and support. He also used the occasion to criticise the media for making what he said were “false judgements” about Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their policies. “We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,” he said. “The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimise the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.” The Taliban swept into the capital Kabul and seized most of Afghanistan in a blitz in mid-August 2021 as the US and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the count