South & Central Asia
Afghanistan
The Taliban's return to power has made Afghanistan one of the world's most dangerous places for Christians, forcing many believers into hiding or flight.
- World Region South & Central Asia
- Issue Tag Religious Freedom
South & Central Asia
The Taliban's return to power has made Afghanistan one of the world's most dangerous places for Christians, forcing many believers into hiding or flight.
Afghanistan remains one of the most restrictive environments in the world for religious minorities, women, and those displaced by ongoing instability. Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, basic freedoms have entirely eroded, communities have fractured under fear, and those who diverge from state-imposed norms face severe consequences. Christians, particularly converts from Islam, face acute danger under Taliban rule, forcing many into hiding or flight. Shai Fund works alongside these vulnerable communities by providing safe pathways, educational opportunities abroad, and long-term support that strengthens resilient leadership within the Afghan underground house church network. During the initial crisis in 2021, Shai Fund helped evacuate more than 9,000 Afghans targeted for their work, identity, or beliefs, establishing a foundation for ongoing protection efforts that continue today.
Afghanistan's recent history has been shaped by decades of conflict, political instability, and a fragile social landscape fractured by war. The fall of Kabul in August 2021 marked a decisive shift as the Taliban regained control and reimposed strict interpretations of religious and social order. Civil liberties were dismantled, and minority groups faced rising intimidation and violence. Afghanistan's ethnoreligious makeup remains diverse, including Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, Hazara communities, Sikhs, and a small but deeply vulnerable Christian minority.
Amid the collapse in 2021, Shai Fund mounted one of the largest civil-society-led evacuation operations of the crisis. Between August and November 2021, the organization helped secure the evacuation of more than 9,000 Afghans at imminent risk, including lawyers and judges who had ruled on Taliban cases, ethnic and religious minorities, women targeted for forced marriage, and Afghans affiliated with international organizations. Shai Fund coordinated safe houses, travel documentation, landing permissions, and onward resettlement pathways that brought thousands to safety when no other options remained. These efforts created trusted networks and logistical systems that continue to protect those still in danger today.
Since 2021, the humanitarian landscape has continued to deteriorate. Afghan Christians, almost all of whom are converts from Islam, now live in secrecy and under constant threat as the Taliban targets members of the underground house church or those who have changed their religious identity on national documents. Taliban rule has led to house raids, forced marriage, and credible threats of execution under apostasy laws. Women and girls have faced a dramatic rollback of rights, including the prohibition of secondary and higher education and widespread forced marriage, leaving many with no safe future inside the country.
In neighboring states such as Pakistan, Iran, and Tajikistan, Afghan refugees face deportation risks, harassment, and barriers to legal status, placing Christian families at renewed danger of refoulement.
Shai Fund now supports these highly vulnerable underground house churches with resources and leadership development programs that strengthen resilience under extreme pressure. Parallel efforts to evacuate at-risk women for higher education provide pathways to safety and opportunity for young women who have been denied schooling at home.
Today, Shai Fund's work continues to protect the most threatened communities in the region, advance religious freedom where it is most restricted, and ensure that Afghan survivors of persecution are not forgotten.
Support safe evacuation pathways and leadership development for Afghan Christians facing persecution.
