The state-owned media outlet SBS reported that the fate of Afghanistan’s Embassy in Australia remains uncertain, a situation that has prompted concern among Afghan migrants residing in the country
This comes as reports previously emerged that the Australian government had informed Wahidullah Waissi, the Afghan Ambassador, that his diplomatic credentials would not be renewed after February 2026.
In July 2024, the Taliban announced that it would not recognize consular documents issued by 14 Afghan embassies, including the one in Canberra. Since then, the embassy has not been operating normally.
Jonathan Muir, the Chief of Protocol for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), told SBS that it is clear the Afghan Embassy in Canberra “cannot continue to operate in the current manner.” He added: “The Ambassador was accredited and authorized to represent a sending state, but the practical continuation of his accreditation requires the existence of an official authority… which does not currently exist.”
Wahidullah Waissi was appointed as Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Australia in 2017. He has retained the position after the Taliban’s rise to power in 2021.
Ali Sarwari, the head of a travel agency, said the embassy has no connection with the Taliban, and documents issued by it are not accepted in Afghanistan.
Senator Fatima Payman, an Australian senator who was born in Afghanistan, said the closure of the embassy would be tantamount to “Afghanistan’s second fall.”
When Waissi was asked what services the embassy under his control currently provides, he said: “I will not answer that question.”
The Afghan Embassy in Australia issued a statement on November 17, saying it remains “committed to providing consular services to Afghan citizens in Australia and New Zealand” and will continue its work “without any interruption.”
The statement claimed that Waissi has no intention of changing, suspending, or relinquishing his diplomatic responsibilities.
The statement quoted Muir as saying that the Australian Foreign Ministry had not issued any instruction or request for the closure of the Afghan Embassy in the country.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the German media outlet ARD in late September that 42 out of 57 Afghan diplomatic missions are either managed by the Taliban or cooperate with the group.
