Furthermore, the Taliban has forcibly displaced Hazaras and distributed their lands to its supporters. There have been similar incidents of land grabbing and forced dispossession against Uzbek, Tajiks, and other groups.

In the wake of two decades of failed counterterrorism and state-building in Afghanistan, there is a reluctance in major capitals to make a new commitment to Afghanistan. But a reluctance to engage will allow the conditions for more mass atrocities and terrorism to fester, two phenomena that often go hand in hand in the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

The failure of past international efforts must not become a justification for inaction today. For decades, human rights violations in Afghanistan were overshadowed by U.S. concerns about terrorism and other security considerations. It is time for the United Nations and leading member states to place mass atrocity prevention at the center of their counterterrorism, humanitarian, and development efforts.

The United States has a well-developed strategy to address the emerging risk of mass atrocities. In July 2022, the Biden administration released its Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities, which empowers the government to direct the Atrocity Prevention Task Force to take the lead in coordinating a whole-of-government approach to responding to the risk of mass atrocities in Afghanistan. Amid escalating threats against the Hazaras and other vulnerable groups, Afghanistan should be the first test case for this new strategy.

Dr. Niamatullah Ibrahimi is a Lecturer in International Relations at La Trobe University Australia and the author of the Hazaras and the Afghanistan State: Rebellion, Exclusion and Struggle for Recognition.

Image: Reuters.