The double standard on dialogue with the Taliban is a betrayal
It is striking that Sweden is now championing dialogue with the very same Taliban it has long claimed it could not engage with over the plight of Afghan women, writes Kajsa Johansson in Global Bar.
The op-ed was originally published by Global Bar Magazine.
On 23 June, the much-discussed dialogue on deportations between the EU and a delegation from Afghanistan took place in Brussels. Sweden, together with a number of other Member States, has been a driving force behind bringing this dialogue about.
The Solidarity Committee for Afghanistan (SC) has consistently argued that Sweden should engage in dialogue with the Taliban – for the sake of the women and girls in Afghanistan whom the Swedish government claims to protect. We put this forward, amongst other things, in an opinion piece in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter almost a year ago, together with a number of Swedish diplomats. In it, we highlighted how Sweden has historically taken a long-term approach, utilising the full range of foreign policy tools – including diplomacy – to safeguard Swedish interests, even, or perhaps especially, in difficult contexts, thereby contributing to geopolitical balance.
Ended strategy
A month or so earlier, the Swedish Government had decided to end its bilateral cooperation strategy with Afghanistan – yet claimed, despite this, that it was not abandoning Afghanistan’s girls and women. We tried earnestly to elicit a response from the Government on how it intended to support them – without aid and without dialogue. We made it clear that we understand politics is about priorities and that this is the government’s responsibility, but that we therefore precisely expect this – accountability for its decisions. This means that the government must either stop claiming that it stands up for Afghanistan’s girls and women – or clarify how and by what means this support will be provided. Our questions were met with total silence.
In our ongoing dialogue with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the message has been clear: Sweden has a red line regarding the Taliban and therefore does not participate in any dialogue, as any form of dialogue, according to the Ministry, would be tantamount to recognition of the regime.
Sweden pushing for dialogue
It was therefore with some surprise that we recently learnt that Sweden is now pushing for precisely such a dialogue with the very same Taliban with whom, under no circumstances, has it been able to engage in dialogue regarding the situation of Afghan girls and women. This surprise has since deepened, particularly as we now read Migration Minister Johan Forssell’s statement that Sweden engages in dialogue with, for example, North Korea and other dictatorships – and that it is in these relationships that diplomacy is needed. The similarities between this and the argument put forward by us and others in DN Debatt nearly a year ago are striking – and yet, at the same time, diametrically opposed.
Two weeks ago, SC, together with Stefan Swartling, professor of global health, argued that Sweden must use dialogue to champion what it claims to prioritise: the girls and women of Afghanistan. Unsurprisingly, this too was met with total silence.
For the Swedish government, it is evidently the case that Swedish victims of crime are worthy of diplomatic efforts and a degree of pragmatism – whilst the girls and women of Afghanistan are not. This double standard and lack of backbone is a disgrace to Sweden.
KAJSA JOHANSSON