Closing the Afghan embassy in Canberra would put many vulnerable Afghans at significant risk

Since the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Australia, Wahidullah Waissi, and his staff have continued to represent the people of Afghanistan under the most trying circumstances^[1].

They have continued to provide diplomatic and consular services in Canberra. This includes issuing passports and verifying Afghan drivers’ licences for those who have fled the Taliban to live in Australia.

In 2024, however, the Taliban government in Kabul wrote to^[2] the Australian government to request the embassy be closed.

The embassy does not represent the Taliban; it has stood firmly against their authority to run the country. It continues to strongly defend the human rights of all Afghans, with a particular focus on women and girls.

Last September, the Australian government asked the Afghan embassy to stop offering consular services. Now, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has advised the Afghan embassy in Canberra to close completely^[3] in June.

Notably, the Australian government doesn’t recognise the Taliban and is unlikely to accept a Taliban ambassador. So it’s not as though the de facto Afghanistan government can just send a new ambassador to Canberra.

However, closing this embassy would put many vulnerable Afghans – including women and girls fleeing the Taliban – at significant risk.

The embassy represents the state, not the Taliban

If the embassy were controlled by the Taliban, we would not want them here. But there is no requirement under diplomatic law for an embassy to have a connection to a government.

As Afghanistan expert William Maley has argued^[4], Australia has had a policy since 1988 of “recognising states, not governments in our diplomatic relations”.

Not only are the legal arguments provided for the closure spurious, he argues, but closing this embassy is an insult to Australian personnel who fought the Taliban for 20 years. It would be a gift to the Taliban.

Azadah Raz Mohammad^[5], an Afghan lawyer at Melbourne University and legal advisor for the End Gender Apartheid^[6] campaign, told me the closure of the embassy is “deeply concerning”. She said:

The absence of formal diplomatic representation risks further isolating an already vulnerable diaspora community, undermining access to documentation, rights, and essential consular support.

For example, one Afghan woman who is an Australian permanent resident was recently threatened with deportation to Afghanistan when visiting her husband in China. Her supporters told me she had been a member of the Afghan National Police in the past, so would be at high risk of Taliban violence should she be returned. She had travelled to China on her Afghan passport.

But by the time she tried to return to Australia, she only had five months left on the passport, which is why Chinese customs threatened to deport her.

Without consular support in Australia, she had not been able to renew her passport, or receive consular assistance. More cases like this will arise when the embassy closes.

Issuing passports

For some time after the Taliban retook control of Kabul, the embassy was able to issue a small number of Afghan passports.

These were of great value to those who received them. In some cases^[7], these passports saved lives, allowing people wanted by the Taliban for their work with the previous government to escape. This included policewomen or women’s rights supporters.

Recently, the Taliban ceased recognising such passports. But this only means they can’t be used by people needing to leave or enter Afghanistan, or other countries aligned with the Taliban. Afghans in Australia can still use them to visit family in other countries.

The Afghan embassy was, until recently, able to renew passports that were nearing expiry for people who weren’t eligible for Australian travel documents. Fees charged for this service were an especially important revenue stream for the embassy given it was without funding from Kabul.

The embassy also had to cease verifying other official Afghanistan documents, such as drivers’ licences. These are important for Afghans trying to rebuild their lives in exile; they can help with getting an Australian drivers’ licence.

Policy trend

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs recently changed the priority processing criteria^[8] for humanitarian visas for Afghans.

This meant removing any priority based on categories of specific vulnerability such as ethnicity, sex or LGBTQI status.

Instead, processing is now prioritised based on the relationship of the applicant with the proposer of the visa. For example, a mother sponsoring her son to come to Australia, or a husband sponsoring his wife to come here.

My forthcoming research for paper for the Australian Journal of International Affairs^[9] shows how problematic it is to ignore the most at-risk Afghans in visa applications.

Future diplomatic need

It’s possible great change is unfolding in the region. In Iran, on Afghanistan’s western border, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in recent US and Israeli airstrikes, along with other senior officials.

To Afghanistan’s south, Pakistan’s defence minister has declared his country is in open war^[10] with the Taliban. Experts fear^[11] an ongoing conflict, and many^[12] organisations^[13] have called^[14] for de-escalation.

If the Taliban are to ever be removed from power in Afghanistan, Australia needs an Afghan ambassador in Canberra to support communication and diplomacy during such a change.

References

1. ^{^} trying circumstances (www.aspistrategist.org.au)
2. ^{^} wrote to (www.theaustralian.com.au)
3. ^{^} close completely (www.dfat.gov.au)
4. ^{^} argued (www.afr.com)
5. ^{^} Azadah Raz Mohammad (law.unimelb.edu.au)
6. ^{^} End Gender Apartheid (endgenderapartheid.today)
7. ^{^} some cases (www.smh.com.au)
8. ^{^} priority processing criteria (www.homeaffairs.gov.au)
9. ^{^} Australian Journal of International Affairs (www.tandfonline.com)
10. ^{^} open war (www.bbc.com)
11. ^{^} Experts fear (youtu.be)
12. ^{^} many (news.un.org)
13. ^{^} organisations (www.consilium.europa.eu)
14. ^{^} called (www.icrc.org)