From NPR:
“In Washington, the last
employees at the Afghan embassy work until the lights go off”
(Outside the stately Embassy of
Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., it's hard to tell the republic has fallen. But
inside, the staircases are dark, the hallways quiet and the offices empty.)
For more than 70 years the
Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., has held down the corner lot in a
neighborhood of grand embassies. With its giant black, red and green flag, lush
landscaping and stately brick and stone, it's hard to tell the republic has
fallen. Inside though, it's clear Afghanistan is now a country broken. The
staircases are dark, the hallways quiet and the offices empty. Except for one,
on the top floor. Abdul Hadi Nejrabi, the deputy ambassador, is the highest
ranking official here. A new ambassador was supposed to come this summer, but
then Kabul fell to the Taliban. "We continue to operate here at the
embassy," he says from his office overlooking a large, manicured garden.
"We have to continue. We don't have any other options." Nejrabi has a
shelf full of binders on Afghan election results and Afghan public opinion
surveys. Two things that hardly matter anymore. "We choose to serve the
people," he says. "That's the reason we are here. We can't close the
door of the embassy."
(Abdul Hadi Nejrabi, the deputy
ambassador, is the highest ranking official at the Afghan embassy and one of
the few employees left. "We choose to serve the people," he says.
"That's the reason we are here.")
They haven't closed the door yet,
but they may not be able to keep it open much longer either. The Afghan
republic, the government before the Taliban, used to fund the embassy in
quarterly installments. Now that money has almost run out. Nejrabi has let most
of the staff go. He and the other 11 diplomats here are working for free,
racing to help thousands of Afghanis who still want to escape the Taliban and
also help refugees get the documents they need to start new lives. Nejrabi says
they can keep working for a few more months. But eventually even he, the
diplomats, and the few staffers left, will have to find a way to pay their own
rent and electric bills. The State Department told them they will be allowed to
stay in the U.S. The embassy, once a powerful symbol of a new Afghanistan, was
staffed to serve a republic that no longer exists. Nejrabi says none of them
can see a world where they will serve the Taliban. But they can't go home
either. "Currently they captured [my] house in Kabul," he says,
"that was built by my father 35 years ago."The Taliban took all of
his family's possessions. They are now in hiding, hoping to escape.
Every week he talks on the phone
with his former colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are also
living in fear. They beg him to help them get out, and he's trying. He's only
heard from the Taliban once. A few weeks ago the acting foreign minister sent
all the ambassadors at embassies around the world a link to a zoom meeting. "The
Taliban tried," he says. "All of our embassies refused that and no
one attended that zoom call." A small smile crosses Nejrabi's face. He
explains that he and the other ambassadors confirmed with each other that not a
single one of them showed up. "We refused because we don't recognize
them," he says. "We are not representing them and they are a
terrorist group."
Most of the embassies are too far
away for the Taliban to reach, yet they cannot survive on their own. Embassies
need countries - countries with governments their host countries recognize. You
can see this played out in a long hallway outside Nejrabi's office where a
dozen portraits of former ambassadors line the walls. "You can see it from
there," he says, pointing to the first portrait at the end of the hallway,
"from the first time we opened the embassy [in] 1943." As he moves
down the portraits, he stops at the year 1981. The portraits suddenly jump to
2002. "The gap was here," he says, holding his hands up between the
frames. "The next ambassador was 2002 after the removal of the Taliban
from power." The gap is just a few inches of beige wall, but it represents
20 years of chaos, civil war and brutal totalitarian control. During those 20
years, this building was closed and shuttered. State Department officials say
the U.S. holds embassies in trust until new governments are recognized. Not too
far from here, the Iranian embassy has been frozen in such a state for more
than 40 years now. As Nejrabi makes his way down to the stately rooms on the
first floor, he says he worries each day that the U.S. will eventually
recognize the Taliban. Pressure is growing as Afghanistan descends into
economic chaos and starvation, and terrorist groups ISIS-K and al-Qaida are
threatening its stability.
The Taliban has also made some
inroads with Russia, China and Pakistan in recent weeks that could lend it
credibility on the world stage. At the embassy, the reception room is still
anchored by the republic's flag. Nejrabi says he can't imagine the Taliban
here. "This room is a symbol of Afghanistan," he says. "When I
come here every day it brings hope to me. That we have a country, a tri-color
flag and one day we will free our country back, and we will take it from the
Taliban." The room is still set up for a party. White tablecloths line the
tables with candlesticks and gold Chiavari chairs, waiting for guests who are
no longer coming. Nejrabi says he and the other diplomats will stay as long as
they possibly can. Then they will turn out the lights and hope it won't be
another 20 years before someone turns them back on.
^ These are truly hard-working
and dedicated people. It’s sad to see their country sink back to the dark days
of 1996-2001 and I’m sure history will repeat itself (ie the US and other
countries needing to come in and fight the Taliban again.) I can only hope no country officially
recognizes the Taliban and that soon they will realize they are only good at
hiding in the mountains and fighting and not governing a country and just leave.
I don’t see that happening, but once can always hope. ^
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