Real Media interviewed Maya Evans who has visited Afghanistan on many occasions in her role at the Afghanistan Peace Project which aims to amplify the voices of women and young people and works on the ground with local grassroots projects in Kabul and surrounding rural areas such as Bamyam.
This month marks 20 years since the beginning of the occupation – a failed project which has killed hundreds of thousands of Afghans.
With the withdrawal of occupying forces last month, the country has been left to face drought and failed harvests on top of the collapse of the economy, and the World Food Programme reports 95% of the population is facing hunger.
Despite all this, the Home Office is planning to deport Afghan refugees back to their country claiming that there is “no real risk of harm”.
Maya is also a Labour councillor in Hastings on the south coast, and she talks about the flood of opium on our streets, most of which comes from Afghanistan and particularly Hellmand province despite the UK’s counter-narcotics responsibilities under the 2001 Bonn Agreement.
This fascinating interview draws on Maya’s connections with ordinary Afghan people and gives a real view from below of what the occupation meant for their country and what the future might hold now that the Taliban are back in control.
More info and ways to help, at afghanistanpeaceproject.co.uk
