My family finally fled Afghanistan. Nightmare is just beginning for millions left behind.

Editor's note: This is an update from Zarifa Hamidi on her family's hardships under the Taliban. For more of her story, read: "I am one of the lucky Afghan women, and Biden needs to consider what the looming withdrawal means." 

The Taliban – which wrestled back control in Afghanistan after the Biden administration's announcement that the United States was leaving – has haunted my family’s nightmares for more than 20 years.

In 2000, the group murdered my father and his brothers for opposing its rule. The assassinations caused my mother to flee her village with her four children. Although we were all able to seek an education in different countries, my family has not been together in years. Ultimately, my mother and brother sought asylum in India. In awful timing, the government rejected their application and demanded that they return to Afghanistan on Aug. 1, just in time to see the Taliban begin to take over the country. Every day after has been terrifying. But through the work of friends and the grace of God, they are both now safe in another Middle Eastern country. 

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Yet the nightmare has only begun for the millions of Afghans who are left behind and are desperately looking for ways to leave Afghanistan. I have been asked by at least 15 friends and relatives who seek entrance into English-speaking countries to translate documents. Although I know their chances of getting visas are slim, I still want them to believe in the hope that they can escape.

Conditions in Afghanistan are quickly rolling back to the way they were in 2001, before the Americans invaded. 

The future for Afghan women and girls looks bleak. The Taliban have assured that women will have rights within the framework of Islamic law, but what that means is ambiguous. Sharia has many different interpretations. The Taliban's track record with regard to women is to enforce the most draconian set of rules. Under their view of Sharia, women lose their jobs, rights to education and very identities. As of now, they cannot even leave their houses because the Taliban have no respect for women.

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Before the Americans landed, for example, I was not enrolled in a real school. The Taliban had replaced all other subjects with just one – recitation of the Quran.

No country can reach its potential by enslaving half the population. For Afghanistan to improve and command the respect of other nations, it must ensure that women participate in every aspect of society. 

What has changed in two decades is the fact that Afghan women are not the same as they were 20 years ago. They are well aware of their rights. Many women played key roles in the previous government. They served as ambassadors, journalists, business owners, teachers, social media influencers and so on. They will not be easily cowed. Neither will the rest of the population, many of whom are attempting to flee the Taliban not only out of fear of oppression but in the belief that the country will soon become an impoverished and dark place.  

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My message to President Joe Biden and other world leaders is to not abandon the people of Afghanistan. I hope the Biden administration considers the following, even now that U.S. troops have left the country:

►Diplomats should take full advantage of the financial leverage America has over the Taliban. America and other Western nations have frozen overseas assets of the country and have halted any payments from the World Bank and other institutions. The banking system is in ruins. Use that leverage to ensure that Afghan women have the right to education and work, and the freedom to leave the house without a male chaperone. The world has seen what the Taliban are capable of doing. They cannot be trusted with women’s rights. Outside pressure is necessary to guarantee that women can have a life. 

►Encourage countries to host Afghan refugees. Afghans should not be forced to move back to Afghanistan, as my mother and brother were when India turned down their asylum request. 

►The recent attack on Kabul airport demonstrates that terrorists are still active in Afghanistan and may now be targeting the Taliban themselves. The Taliban will face not only an uncooperative population that loathes their rule but attacks from other terrorist groups. If the Taliban should want outside help in the future, they should be forced to demonstrate that they have broken with al-Qaida, the group whose murderous activities began America's invasion in the first place. It’s important to note that we have not seen any concrete evidence of the Taliban breaking ties with al-Qaida. That should be basic for any help from Western countries. 

Some day, I hope my family is together again and can at least consider returning to a stable Afghanistan. But without Western help, Afghanistan will only continue to move backward. 

Zarifa Hamidi has a master’s degree in international relations with a concentration in international security and conflict resolution from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She lives in Virginia.