Topic:
Country: Tunisia
Delegate Name: Lauren Carpenter
Since the 1970s the situation in Afghanistan has been tumultuous, with numerous foreign governments causing uproar and creating governmental instability. In the past few decades, the Taliban has posed a threat to the Afghan government, its citizens, and ultimately the world through its harboring of international terrorists and armament despite United Nations regulations. After the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan concluding in August 2021, officially ending US occupation of Afghanistan, the Taliban swiftly retook control of the temporarily democratic Republic of Afghanistan and reinforced many laws and policies that date back to prior to US occupation. This new Taliban government poses a threat to Afghan citizens and as 35,000 citizens have already fled to neighboring countries, creates a refugee crisis. The Taliban government also, despite verbal promises, threatens the livelihood and rights of many female Afghan citizens as they have a history of enforcing limitations and regulations on the rights of women. Under the guise of good intentions, already, gender-segregated schools have been reestablished and persecution of women has already begun again. Ultimately, the Taliban has established control over Afghanistan, parallel to their rule 20 years ago and change is still underway.
As a fellow Muslim-majority country, the issue of stability in Afghanistan and how the United Nations reacts influences the Republic of Tunisia tremendously. With Tunisia dubbed the “lone success story” of the Arab Spring back in 2010, Tunisian relations with the European Union, specifically France, have always been close but fragile. Political issues in Tunisia regarding President Kais Saied and his debated coup, after suspending Tunisian parliament for 30 days, UN action regarding Afghanistan strongly influences Tunisian stability as it sets the precedent for future action in muslim nations. As a country which has dealt with numerous forms of government in the past decade, the change in Afghan government is very familiar and, although more violent than Tunisian President Kais Saied’s alleged coup, global relations between the UN and Afghanistan are paramount to Tunisian stability and have the potential to dramatically alter the Tunisian government.
Ideally the United Nations would treat the situation in Afghanistan with respect and deal with the discrepancy over leadership peacefully. Tunisia, which is no stranger to global sentiments of islamophobia and has dealt with bigotry-based crimes in the past, would like to avoid painting Afghanistan as a nation of terrorists and criminals in order to minimize those sentiments, which, if they were to increase, would richocet and in turn negatively effect other Muslim-majority nations. Tunisia proposes that the UN provide refugee camps for those in need, but discourage any further migration from the Middle East, as well as remove any direct military intervention from Afghanistan. As demonstrated numerous times in the past, Western intervention and attempts to promote democracy have failed to establish permanent governments in the Middle East and have instead kick-started decades of civil unrest and instability. While the UN should provide refuge for all those in need of protection, it is no longer the place of the UN to directly intervene in Afghanistan’s affairs and the Taliban government should be treated as any other foreign government.
