The State Department announced new visa restrictions this week for current and former Taliban officials who were involved in the decision to ban higher education for women and girls.
The Taliban last week doubled down on its ban on women in girls at university, warning universities not to allow Afghan women to take entrance exams.
Officials also banned foreign and Afghan women from working in non-governmental organizations in December, a move that aid groups have warned could exacerbate the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
Taliban soldiers stand guard in Panjshir province, northeast Afghanistan, Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
(AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan)
“Through these decisions, the Taliban have once again shown their disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“The Taliban cannot expect the respect and support of the international community until they respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, including women and girls.”
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Women and girls in Afghanistan have seen their freedoms eroded after the US withdrew from the country in August 2021.
Amanah Nashenas, a 45-year-old Afghan teacher, collects books at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, December 22, 2022.
(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Taliban officials, who adhere to a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, also placed restrictions on women traveling outside the home without a male escort, barring women from working outside of some sectors and barring girls from attending. middle and high school.
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United Nations humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths characterized the ban on female aid workers as “a potential death blow” to many programs that have propped up Afghanistan’s ailing economy over the past year and a half.
“Afghanistan is going through a wild winter, the second under the Taliban,” he told a news conference this week. “Last winter, we managed to survive. I don’t know if we can do this indefinitely, not with all these bans.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
