LGBTQ+ Afghans Fear For Their Lives Under Taliban Rule, Say 'They Could Be Stoned To Death'

"We will definitely be killed...We are asking to be evacuated immediately from Afghanistan." Before the Taliban uprising in Afghanistan, life for Hilal (his name has been changed) was already dangerous.

If he'd spoken about his sexuality to the wrong person then, Hilal could have been arrested and taken to court for his sexuality, under Afghan laws. But since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, he tells Radio 1 Newsbeat his sexuality being revealed would now have him "killed on the spot".

AP

"It's like being inside a movie"

Hilal, a 25-year-old gay man in Afghanistan, is among hundreds of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) members in Afghanistan who fear for their lives under the Taliban government. They have urged human rights advocates outside the country to help them escape the new regime.

However, with the formal exit of the US and its western allies from Afghanistan, many LGBTQ+ citizens are forced to live in hiding, fearing they might either be killed or assaulted if they are found by the Taliban fighters.

Reuters

Under the Taliban's interpretation of Sharia Law, homosexuality is strictly prohibited and punishable by death. The last time they were in power in Afghanistan, between the late 90s and 2001, 21-year-old Abdul hadn't been born. "I've heard my parents and elders talk about the Taliban," he says. "We watched some movies. But now, it's like being inside a movie."

A month after they took over Kabul on August 15, the Taliban have failed to deliver on most of their tall promises to upkeep human rights and women's rights as per their interpretation of Sharia law. The hardline group is yet to make an open statement about Afghanistan's LGBTQ+ citizens.

"They'll kill me"

Hilal, who used to advocate for LGBTQ rights, said shortly after Kabul fell on August 15, some men came to his house looking for him. "They made threats to my brother, and they said to him that if I return home, they will kill me (for being LGBTQ)," CNN quoted him as saying.

With a shortage of food and other supplies, Hilal said he may never be able to go back to his family's home. "We are LGBT. It is not our fault. It has been written as such in my destiny, in my spirit ... No one can change this. All they can do is to kill me," Hilal said. Rabia Balkhi (name changed), a 20-year-old university student, said one gay man in her neighbourhood was raped after being found by the Taliban.

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Balkhi said when she and her family left their home in Kabul and moved to a secret location after August 15, fearing they might be attacked if the Taliban came to know that she was a lesbian. "The Taliban have exact information about every family here," CNN quoted Balkhi as saying. Balkhi fears that if the Taliban came to know about her, she would be stoned to death.

"Been harder for LGBTQ"

Kimahli Powell, executive director of the NGO Rainbow Railroad which helps LGBTQ+ people around the world escape persecution, told CNN that evacuation of LGBTQ+ members in Afghanistan was especially hard since the community members were in hiding and unable to contact each other.

"Many of the evacuations have been families or large communities, and that's been harder for LGBTQ communities," CNN quoted him as saying. Some LGBTQ+ members also fell victim to online scams that offered them a safe route out of the country, Kimahli Powell said.

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"(It's uncertain) what the Taliban takeover looks like around access to borders and access to migration, but we're committed to trying to find pathways to keep people safe and get people out," CNN quoted Powell as saying.