Ryan Bridge: If we can repatriate woman with links to ISIS surely we can help Afghans who helped our troops

OPINION: There are men and women in Afghanistan who have helped New Zealand help their country over the years.

They helped us. By all accounts, they are wonderful, hard-working people. 

And now is their hour of need. Their President has deserted them. 

The Taliban is back in town and they face the very real threat of being killed for helping us Kiwis out in Bamyan province.

They wrote to our Prime Minister and Immigration Minister months ago but they were told "no". 

What a slap in the face that must feel like. 

To know their lives are at risk, their daughters will likely be denied an education and widows will be married off to Taliban fighters. 

I know these things are complicated.

But if we are managing to repatriate a woman with links to ISIS during a pandemic, surely we can do more to help those who helped us. 

Ryan Bridge is filling in for Duncan Garner on The AM Show.