Northland social advocate Carol Peters pleads for Afghanistan women's plight

Women gather to demand their rights under the Taliban rule during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo / AP

A Northland social advocate who spent time fighting for women's rights in the Middle East is among Kiwis who signed an open letter calling on the Government to further help those in Afghanistan.

Carol Peters is particularly advocating for the plight of Hazara women who, she said, face a number of challenges since American troops left the war-torn country and the Taliban took over.

Hazaras are the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, and are also a significant minority group in neighbouring Pakistan.

In a letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta, a collection of more than 60 non-government organisations and individuals advocated for the rights and protection of Afghan nationals and called on New Zealand to increase its quota of refugees from the south Asian country.

Carol Peters is among more than 60 NGOs and individuals that signed a letter to the government, calling for more help for Afghanistan. Photo / John Stone

They said women, children, and those who have worked to promote human rights, democracy and education, were among the people most at risk.

Urgent action was needed to prevent an even greater humanitarian disaster and to ensure that every individual has their rights and dignity upheld, the letter emphasised.

Peters spent five years working in Saudi Arabia about 40 years ago and travelled extensively around the Middle East during that time.

"I was very embedded in women's community in Jeddah as well as supported refugees in Sudan by helping them access resources and jobs in Saudi Arabia and women in particular are not well supported during times like these.

"A lot of them want to go to university, become writers, and thinkers and I think our government should be working with the Taliban and increase the amount of foreign support and making every effort to get people out of Afghanistan," said Peters, who is also a Whangārei District Councillor but signed the letter as a concerned social advocate.

She said American troops needed to exit Afghanistan as war did not achieve anything.

The signatories of the letter called on Mahuta to at least double New Zealand's financial aid and to increase humanitarian support to Afghanistan's neighbours that were taking in refugees.

They also called on the government to evacuate the remaining people in Afghanistan left from the initial mission, and to include at-risk individuals connected to New Zealand in these efforts.

"The New Zealand Government spent 20 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in military expenditure as part of the international intervention in Afghanistan. We have an obligation to the people of Afghanistan to stand by them now.

Mahuta said New Zealand was concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and has committed $6 million in humanitarian funding since August.

She said the Government was further considering ways to support crisis-affected communities in Afghanistan and has already issued visas to a significant number of Afghans with links to New Zealand's previous engagement in that country.

"We are discussing with partners potential next steps including how the New Zealand Government can best assist the hundreds of New Zealand citizens, permanent residents, New Zealand visa holders and their immediate families who remain in Afghanistan.

"It's important to note that conditions on the ground were and remain, complex and challenging and we worked to get as many people out as we could."