"I feel helpless," said the University of Newcastle student, of watching Afghans chase and cling to the sides of US military planes in Kabul.

"I wish we were in a place and a position that we could offer them some help.

"There's a lot of desperation with people trying to get out and they can't do that.

"It's how people react when they are being left behind, they are trying to hold on to the last piece of hope they have.

"Trying to run after the international [allies] they are saying 'We want to go as well, we are not happy here, we will be tortured for what we have done, for our work with international troops'.

"It's really sad to see them trying to run away but there is no way for them because the system is broken."

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Mr Rasoli, 25, has called on the international community to intervene and assist Afghans who want to leave, including many who face certain death, as well as those stuck in Indonesia and offshore detention centres.

He fled aged 17 in search of safety and spent almost five years in Indonesia, where the United Nations helped him apply for a visa for Australia.

His parents still live in the country's west, in the Taliban-occupied Herat.

"I constantly worry about them," he said.

"I try to check in on them three or four times a day to see how they are going.

"They try to put on a brave face but I can hear they are disappointed - they are scared about what's going to happen next."

He said he woke each day feeling "we have gone 20 years backwards".

He was a child when the allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, but said the regime never went away completely.

He was saddened watching US president Joe Biden say allies were in Afghanistan "not to rebuild a nation, but to defeat a terrorist group".

"That is breaking our hearts into pieces. What were those 20 years of war for? People lost their lives - what was it for? Nothing positive has come out of it."

Mr Rasoli said the allies should have ensured the government "could fight for Afghanistan" and protect citizens. Instead, president Ashraf Ghani has fled.

"They could have said 'We are leaving but our troops will remain there until we make sure everyone is safe and the government system is functioning'."

University of Newcastle (UON) Vice Chancellor Alex Zelinsky told students and staff on Tuesday that many people in the UON community "will have been confronted and saddened by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan".

"Like many Australian universities, we have students, staff and alumni from Afghanistan," he said.

"Newcastle is also home to a thriving Afghan community, which has made a rich contribution to the cultural life of our city.

"I would like to take this opportunity to offer our support to those members of our university community who are impacted by the current crisis. I know there will be a strong desire to help.

"We have reached out to our current students (and those students abroad who are yet to join us) to find out what they need, whether this is visa assistance, financial support or any other opportunity for the university to help at this difficult time."

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