Attachments
Background and Issues
In August 2021, shocking footage circulated widely through global media. On the runway of Kabul International Airport, what appeared to be a large military transport aircraft was preparing for takeoff as hundreds of people desperately surged toward it. Just moments before liftoff, individuals clung to the exterior structures of the aircraft—areas from which falling was inevitable once the plane became airborne—desperately holding on. The aircraft soon left the runway and ascended, and seconds later, figures believed to be people were seen falling from hundreds of meters above the ground. The video ended there.
On August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the Taliban seized control of Kabul, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government. As news of the Taliban’s return to power spread, thousands of Afghan civilians rushed to Kabul Airport in an attempt to flee the country. Long queues formed around the airport, and clashes and chaos erupted amid U.S. military control efforts.
In mid-August 2021, footage related to U.S. military evacuation flights departing Kabul shocked the world. Fear and uncertainty rapidly spread across Kabul and other regions, and those most at risk of Taliban retaliation—former and current government officials, human rights activists, journalists, and women activists—were among the first to attempt to escape.
In response, countries that had cooperated with the Afghan government concluded that Afghans who had assisted them faced imminent threats of Taliban reprisals and initiated emergency evacuations. The United States carried out the largest evacuation operation, while European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, along with Canada, Turkey, Australia, and various international NGOs, also evacuated Afghan partners and their families by air. South Korea was among these countries.
Between August 24 and 26, 2021, the South Korean government deployed three military transport aircraft to evacuate a total of 391 Afghan nationals—local staff who had worked with the Korean government or domestic institutions and their families—to South Korea. Domestically, the evacuation sparked public debate, with opinions divided between opposition and support. Conscious of anti-refugee sentiment, the government labeled the evacuees not as “refugees” but as “Special Contributors of Afghanistan.” Upon arrival, they were temporarily housed at the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, before being resettled across various regions nationwide several months later. Their resettlement process drew sustained media attention for a time.
Over time, however, public attention toward Afghanistan’s Special Contributors in South Korea gradually faded. The international community likewise refrained from officially recognizing the Taliban government and largely suspended diplomatic relations, while also failing to take proactive measures to intervene in Taliban governance. The intense global focus following the Taliban’s return to power quickly dissipated. As international attention shifted to other wars and crises, Afghan refugees were increasingly marginalized in media coverage and international policy agendas.
Meanwhile, the Taliban government has continued to implement policies that raised serious human rights concerns. In March 2022, the Taliban banned women’s freedom of movement and travel without a male guardian (mahram). 2 Girls’ and women’s access to secondary and higher education, including university enrollment, was prohibited, and women were barred from most forms of employment, public office, and professional work. Media and journalistic activities were also restricted. 3 Women were banned from parks, beauty salons, and gyms, and in December 2024, the Taliban issued architectural guidelines requiring that women’s living spaces within homes not be visible from outside. 4 In August 2024, the Taliban enacted “Morality Laws,” imposing strict dress and behavior codes, including mandatory full-body covering for women and compulsory beard-growing for men.
These measures have directly suppressed the rights to education, freedom, survival, participation, and expression of the Afghan population as a whole, rendering women in particular “invisible” in society. As a result, countless Afghans were forced to flee their country, becoming refugees within Afghanistan, in neighboring countries, and across Europe and the United States.
This report begins with a central question: where and under what conditions are Afghan refugees living after the Taliban’s return to power, and how are their voices being heard today? In response, ADI conducted direct interviews with Afghan refugees to listen to and document their stories.