10.09.2021 - Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi speaks to Raphael Kahane about the situation in Afghanistan on this latest episode of France Info/France 24’s Le Monde Dans Tous Ses États. Nassim gave her opinion on the West’s recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, the refugee crisis and the future of women’s rights under the Taliban. Most importantly, Nassim emphasised the need for Europe and the West to negotiate with the Taliban in order to ensure safe evacuations for those who need to leave, and to establish a humanitarian corridor into the country for those who will stay behind.
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06.09.2021 - A week since the final American military evacuation flights left Kabul, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi featured on France Culture’s special programme, ‘Afghanistan: emergency for refugees’. The event, hosted at Paris Théâtre de la Ville and designed in collaboration with French Afghan novelist Atiq Rahimi, saw Nassim feature alongside several Afghan thinkers, writers, artists and officials, as well as Didier Leschi, Director General of the French Office for Immigration and Integration.
Listen to this special two part programme here and here.
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03.09.2021 - Following the Taliban’s rapid advance throughout Afghanistan, women throughout the country, after twenty years of struggle, have seen hard won rights stripped away from them. Nassim Majidi, Samuel Hall co-founder, is quoted as Marie Claire examines the ‘fatal regression’ in the chronology of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
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02.09.2021 - Samuel Hall co-founder Hervé Nicolle talks to France Culture’s Cultures Monde programme, appearing alongside Camille Le Coz, researcher at the Migration Policy Institute Europe. Hervé gives his opinion on the European Union’s approach to the growing number of Afghan refugees who have fled Afghanistan, and will continue to do so, following the Taliban takeover.
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31.08.2021 - As the last Western evacuation flights leave Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the United States ends its 20 year long presence within Afghanistan, Samuel Hall co-founder featured on ARTE’s 28 Minutes Le Débat. Nassim emphasises that the evacuation process cannot end with the final Western evacuation flights and that there are thousands of Afghans who remain at risk within the country.
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31.08.2021 - On the day that the last United States forces are due to leave Afghanistan, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi speaks to France 24’s english language news programme. Nassim argues that the evacuation process cannot end when the last Western military flights leave Hamid Karzai International Airport. Thousands of Afghans remain at risk within the country and the international community must ensure that the Taliban allow these individuals and their families to leave the country safely. Nassim also highlights the importance of continued monitoring and evaluation within the country and the vital need for the international community to bolster the Afghan economy and prevent its total collapse.
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31.08.2021 - Speaking on France 24’s french language news channel, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi outlines her belief that, rather than sanctioning and isolating the Taliban, the international community must talk to the Taliban, negotiate with them on matters relating to aid, release funds and support the Afghan economy and thus the Afghan people. Nassim argues that aid into the country should be conditioned on the Taliban’s agreement to allow those Afghans who wish to flee the country to do so.
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30.08.2021 - In this episode of RFI’s Débat Du Jour, Samuel Hall co-founder Hervé Nicolle discusses the Taliban’s rapid takeover in Afghanistan and the failure of Western nations, particularly the United States, to plan for and prevent the chaos seen at Kabul airport in recent days and weeks.
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28.08.2021 - Stefanie Barratt, Samuel Hall’s Data Standards & Analytics pillar lead, contributes to this Der Spiegel piece which examines the process whereby, at Washington’s request, Afghan refugees, instead of being brought directly to the United States, have been diverted to third-party countries including Rwanda, Colombia, Albania and Uganda. Stefanie argues that the priority must be to help Afghan refugees diverted to these third-party countries to reach their final destinations, the United States or Canada, as soon as is possible.
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27.08.2021 - Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi talks to France 24’s evening news channel following the suicide bombing attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Following the United States’ announcement that they will strike those responsible for the attacks, Nassim notes that Afghans - already trapped within the country under Taliban rule - fear a violent regression towards ethnic conflict and civil war. Nassim highlights the need for full access for humanitarian aid into all parts of the country and for Afghans seeking to flee the country to be granted prima facie refugee status.
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27.08.2021 - Following the suicide bombing at Kabul Airport, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi speaks to France 24’s English language news channel about the chaotic and desperate evacuation scenes in Afghanistan. Nassim argues that the chaos in the country is a reflection of the United States’ failure to plan for a full withdrawal and reiterates her belief that all Afghans should be allowed to leave the country if that is their wish. She notes that the opportunity to leave is a universal human right and that states have a responsibility to offer Afghan civilians the protection they deserve.
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26.08.2021 - In this piece for France’s Le Monde newspaper, Samuel Hall founders Hervé Nicolle and Nassim Majidi make the case that ‘prima facie’ refugee status, which allows refugees to benefit from international protection before individual determination, must be collectively granted to all Afghans who seek to flee Taliban rule. Hervé and Nassim highlight how the Taliban, for weeks and months, have created lists of those individuals - journalists, activists, artists, students, civil society representatives and others - that they disagree with or see as traitors. Many thousands of Afghans are on such lists and their lives are at real risk.
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23.08.2021 - This edition of France 24’s Le Débat examines the Taliban’s lightning takeover in Afghanistan and debates whether the evacuation deadline of 31st August must be extended. Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi argues that the chaotic scenes at Kabul airport reflect a lack of preparation by Western governments, notably the United States. These governments must take responsibility and ensure that those Afghans that wish to flee their country are able to do so.
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19.08.2021 - Just three days since the Taliban’s takeover in Kabul, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi talks to France 24 about the Taliban and what they mean for Afghan women’s rights. Nassim argues that, despite attempts to seduce international media by Taliban spokespeople, the group cannot be trusted to respect women’s rights. She notes that there is a disconnect between the Taliban’s words and their deeds. Women, now living under Taliban rule after the group’s rapid advance throughout Afghanistan, are forced to wear a Burqa, to only leave the house with a male chaperon, forced to marry if they are single or widowed and stopped from attending university or work.
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19.08.2021 - The UN estimates that, since the beginning of 2021, some 330,000 Afghans have been displaced by conflict and the Taliban’s rapid advance. With so many Afghans seeking to flee their country, and the number likely to increase rapidly following the fall of Kabul, Western governments have announced plans to accept varying numbers of Afghan refugees. Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi talks to France’s Libération, outlining her belief that the plans announced by Western governments are not sufficient as, to be accepted, Afghans must meet certain criteria. Nassim argues that all Afghan’s, given the context within their country, should be considered ‘prima facie’ refugees, benefitting from international protection without being submitted to individual status determination.
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19.08.2021 - Following the fall of Kabul, Afghan women fear for their futures and their lives as the Taliban impose severe restrictions. All Afghan women live in a climate of fear and reprisals. Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi talks to France’s Public Sénat about the difficulties facing Afghan women - particularly journalists, students and activists - and calls for an accelerated evacuation programme to save the lives of Afghans at risk.
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18.08.2021 - Just days since the Taliban took power in Kabul, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi speaks to Marie Claire on the subject of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Nassim discusses how, despite statements to the contrary by the group’s spokespeople, the Taliban - like they did in the 1990s - have moved to severely restrict women’s rights in the country. Afghan women face a bleak future, one without the hard won rights for which they have struggled during the past twenty years. She highlights that the Taliban have lists of women activist, journalists and researchers, all of whom are living in fear and at real risk.
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17.08.2021 - With Kabul haven fallen to a rapid Taliban advance and seems of chaos unfolding as Afghans attempt to flee the country, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi speaks on France Culture’s Le Temps Du Débat D’été. The debate centres around the question of whether the West has abandoned Afghanistan? Nassim Majidi highlights how the West’s failure to prepare for a withdrawal from Afghanistan has endangered a great number of Afghans who worked with international actors, pointing to the fact that the Taliban have been making lists of journalists, activists and researchers for weeks.
Nassim Majidi appears on the episode alongside Gilles Dorronsoro, Professor of Social Science, and Mark Hecker, researcher at the Centre for Security Studies at the French Institute of International Relations.
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16.08.2021 - Talking to France’s Le Parisien, Samuel Hall co-founder Nassim Majidi details how, with the Taliban having captured Kabul, the country’s women have faced a rapid and severe regression in the decades old struggle for women’s rights. Nassim highlights how the Taliban have imposed strict restrictions on women’s education and how lists of single/widowed women are being created with the intention of forcing them to marry Taliban fighters. The only option in the face of such repression, Nassim argues, is flight.
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