Riz Ahmed, Emma Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Ian McKellen, Colin Firth and Elif Shafak are among the A-list names calling on British ministers to rescue Afghanistan's creative professionals.
The group, which also included Stephen Fry and Sam Mendes, wrote a letter to The Times on Saturday titled "safe passage plea for Afghan performers", demanding that the British government open a "humanitarian corridor" to help artists, writers and filmmakers escape the country, which has been taken over by the Taliban.
"Over the past two decades, civil society has flourished in Afghanistan with new freedoms ushering in a golden age of art, music, film and writing," the letter begins. "At the same time, political dissent and journalism have thrived in a region where free expression is not always respected."
This legacy, the group writes, is now in "imminent peril". "We now have a duty to those artists, writers and filmmakers who will be silenced if we do not act immediately."
The letter urges the British government to "co-operate with the international community to create a humanitarian corridor" for those looking to escape.
"We also call on those in positions of influence in the creative industries to help those who have escaped to continue their vital work and safeguard the culture of Afghanistan for future generations."
The letter was instigated by Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Golden Globe-winning Afghan director Siddiq Barmak (Osama), both of whom reside in the UK, according to the publication.
The Index on Censorship, an organisation for the freedom of expression, and non-profit theatre company Good Chance Theatre said they organised the letter.
Other signatories include playwrights Tom Stoppard and David Hare, writer and broadcaster Trevor Phillips, as well as actors Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Bonneville.
A number of Afghan-born professionals who live in the UK signed, too, including director Atiq Rahimi, poet Parwana Fayyaz, writer Shabibi Shah, cinematographer Jawed Taiman and writer Zarlasht Halaimzai, who is also co-founder of the Refugee Trauma Initiative.
Several British-Iranian talents are also named, such as artist Majid Adin, producer and director Zoe Neirizi, writer Nasrin Parvaz and poet Shirin Razavian.
This comes weeks after it was reported that the Taliban banned music in public across Afghanistan, and that Afghan folk singer Fawad Andarabi was killed in the village of Kishaan.
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
