Afghanistan Faces Health, Data and Media Crises Under Taliban Rule
Afghanistan Faces Health, Data and Media Crises Under Taliban Rule
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Afghanistan is experiencing multiple interconnected crises — from rapidly deteriorating air quality to mass data breaches of resettlement applicants, and a sharp deterioration in media freedom under the Taliban regime.
According to Khaama Press, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has sounded the alarm over a severe air pollution crisis in the country’s urban areas. Emissions from vehicles, factory smoke and extensive winter-time burning of coal and plastics are forcing city air quality into dangerous levels, especially in Kabul and other major centres. The agency warns the situation poses serious public-health threats, particularly for children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom has reported nearly 50 data breaches linked to its Afghan resettlement programmes, raising concerns that the personal information of thousands of Afghan applicants was improperly handled or exposed to risk of reprisals. Legal and human-rights experts say the leaks undermined trust and left vulnerable individuals at risk of targeting by the Taliban or others, as reported by Arab News.
On the media front, the rights-monitoring organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) states that the Taliban have effectively crushed independent journalism in Afghanistan since seizing power in 2021. Through arbitrary detention, censorship, and surveillance of news outlets and journalists — women in particular suffering the hardest losses — the media environment has become one of fear and control.
