Slynn Continue Support for Afghan Women Judges

by Roger Coventry CMG and Dame Maura McGowan DBE

No-one will forget the scenes from around Kabul airport in August 2021. In amongst those desperate to escape the violent revenge of the Taliban were Afghan women Judges and their families, many with very young children.

 Afghan Judges had worked for years to uphold the Rule of Law and basic human rights in the face of great personal danger. Indeed, several were killed doing just that.

In early 2021 a group of Judges from the UK Association of Women Judges (UKAWJ) formed partnerships with Afghan women Judges. Those partnerships flourished and led later in the year to the engagement of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). By August Judges from the IAWJ and UKAWJ were working around the clock to help their colleagues in Afghanistan – often successfully, sometimes not so.

Now, four years later, those who strove to uphold a fair, Rule of Law Justice system are living in different countries across the globe. They are separated from parents, their wider families and friends and unable to return to their own country. They can do little as the rights of women and girls are erased. They have to rebuild lives. They wish to make full contribution to the countries where they have found asylum.

In this country the UKAWJ, the Legal Afghan Working Group (LAW-G) and many other organisations (e.g. Western Welcome in Bristol) have worked tirelessly to assist. The government and local authorities have provided housing and financial assistance.

From late 2021, the UKAWJ and LAW-G put much of their time and resources into providing the Afghan women Judges and their families with English lessons, speaking, reading and writing – vital for anyone making a home in this country. The children are going to school, and are finding it relatively easy to pick up another language; adults find it more difficult. Laptops, phones and other support have been provided.

The work in helping Judges and their families still stuck in Afghanistan and, in limbo, in other countries continues. The work includes those who were granted permission to enter a safe country but were then peremptorily told that permission had been withdrawn before they could board a plane. They now face return to a country ruled by the Taliban.

The Slynn Foundation award a Fellowship (when funding is available) for young lawyers identified by their judiciary to come to London to improve their working knowledge of international methods. In 2021 it was not possible to offer the fellowship due to covid, so the Board of Trustees decided to donate the monies to support the work of other organisations providing English lessons and other help for Afghan women judges identified through the UKAWJ.  Slynn continues to support the project in 2026.

 There is now progress and hope. Children are generally doing well at school and have good prospects. Parents are becoming fluent in English. Several are undertaking or have completed Masters degrees in law. Many have jobs in law firms, academia or other sectors.

Not all have found the transition from life in Afghanistan to life in the UK easy. For everyone there is the ever-present worry for family members, particularly aged parents, still in Afghanistan. There is the deep concern for those who have not been able to get to somewhere safe, or simply been left in limbo in a third country. All have had to watch, powerlessly, as the rights of girls and women have been erased under the Talban’s rule, until they are treated as no more than chattels.

There also remains the lingering hope that one day, one day, they can return to their country. A country in which the Rule of Law and human rights will be observed.