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Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UN concerned by Taliban's arrest of Afghan women and girls for dress code violations
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Monday expressed concern about the Taliban's arrest of Afghan women and girls for their alleged failure to comply with the authorities' dress code. In May 2022, the Taliban government issued a decree calling for women to show only their eyes and recommending they wear a head-to-toe burqa. The Taliban, which returned to power in 2021, has cracked down on the way women dress and behave in public, notably through morality laws forbidding them to show their faces outside the home. The UN mission in Afghanistan said it was concerned by the arrest of 'numerous' women and girls in Kabul between July 16 and 19, who authorities claimed had not followed instructions on wearing the hijab, or the Islamic headscarf. 'These incidents serve to further isolate women and girls, contribute to a climate of fear, and erode public trust,' the mission added, without details including the number of arrests or the ages and where they have been held. The UN mission urged the Taliban government to 'rescind policies and practices' that restrict women and girls' human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly the ban on education beyond sixth grade. A Taliban representative was not immediately available for comment. In January 2024, the country's Vice and Virtue Ministry said it had arrested women in the Afghan capital for wearing 'bad hijab.' A ministry spokesman, Abdul Ghafar Farooq, did not say how many women were arrested or what constituted bad hijab. The UN mission said at the time it was looking into claims of ill treatment of the women and extortion in exchange for their release. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. Since then, the Taliban administration has sought international recognition while enforcing its interpretation of Islamic law. In July, Russia became the only country to grant formal recognition.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘They threw us out like garbage': Iran rushes deportation of 4 million Afghans before deadline
Women forced back to living under the Taliban's increasingly repressive regime have spoken of their desperation as Iran accelerates the deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghans who had fled to the country. In the past month alone, more than 250,000 people, including thousands of lone women, have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, according to the UN's migration agency. The numbers accelerated before Sunday's deadline set by the Iranian regime for all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. The Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, have been accused of enforcing a system of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Women returning to the country must live with oppressive laws that ban them from showing their faces, speaking or appearing in public, as well as being excluded from most jobs and education. Anyone caught breaking these rules faces public flogging. Speaking to the Guardian and Zan Times, an Afghan news agency, at a border crossing in southern Afghanistan, Sahar*, 40, is travelling with five children and says she has no idea where she will live now. A widow originally from Baghlan, a city in northern Afghanistan, she had been living in Iran for more than a decade. She ran a small tailoring workshop and had recently put down a deposit on a home. Last week, she says she was detained, taken with her children from a refugee camp near the southern city of Shiraz, and deported. 'I didn't even get to pack their clothes. They came in the middle of the night. I begged them to give me just two days to collect my things. But they didn't listen. They threw us out like garbage.' Until recently, women were rarely forcibly returned from Iran. Men, often undocumented labourers, were more likely to face arrest and deportation. But Afghan border officials say there has been a recent shift, with at least 100 unaccompanied women deported through a single border point in Nimroz province, in the south of the country, between March and May this year. Returning to Afghanistan without a male guardian puts women in direct conflict with Taliban law, which prohibits women from travelling alone. Many of those returned from Iran find themselves stranded at the border, unable to continue their journey. With temperatures now reaching 52C, local officials say that a number of people have died during the forced crossings. Border officials say at least 13 bodies have arrived in the past two weeks, but it was not clear whether they had died of heat and thirst or were killed during Israel's airstrikes in Iran. Those arriving at border crossings in southern Afghanistan say they are thirsty, hungry and exhausted, having walked for hours under the sun. Most have no belongings, documentation or plan about where to live. 'From Shiraz to Zahedan [close to the Afghan border], they took everything from us. My bank card had 15 million tomans (£110). They charged 50,000 tomans for a bottle of water, 100,000 for a cold sandwich. And if you didn't have it, your child went without,' says Sahar. The Taliban says it offers short-term shelter and transport assistance to women deported without a mahram (an adult male who can accompany her on a journey). But many returnees say they received no such help. Under Taliban policy, most single women are barred from receiving land, travelling alone to their home province, or accessing employment. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Sahar says her options in Afghanistan are bleak. She has an elderly mother in Baghlan, but no home, no job and no husband, meaning, under Taliban rules, she cannot travel alone or work legally. 'I asked for land [from the Taliban], anything to start again. They said, 'You're a woman, you have no mahram. You don't qualify.'' Many end up relying on extended family or informal networks. One woman, recently returned with a newborn, says she was denied food and shelter. 'They told me: 'You're not eligible. You don't have a man with you.' But my baby is just four days old. Where am I supposed to go?' The UN agency, the International Organization for Migration, and other groups provide temporary aid at border crossings, but they do not have the mandate or resources for long-term support. In the buses taking deportees from detention to the Afghanistan borders, women also say they are subjected to verbal abuse, bribes demanded for basic services and no air conditioning in extreme heat. 'They said it's a waste for you Afghans. My child cried from the heat, but the driver laughed and mocked us,' says Zahra*. * Names have been changed Kreshma Fakhri contributed to this report.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘They threw us out like garbage': Iran rushes deportation of 4 million Afghans before deadline
Women forced back to living under the Taliban's increasingly repressive regime have spoken of their desperation as Iran accelerates the deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghans who had fled to the country. In the past month alone, more than 250,000 people, including thousands of lone women, have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, according to the UN's migration agency. The numbers accelerated before Sunday's deadline set by the Iranian regime for all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. The Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, have been accused of enforcing a system of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Women returning to the country must live with oppressive laws that ban them from showing their faces, speaking or appearing in public, as well as being excluded from most jobs and education. Anyone caught breaking these rules faces public flogging. Speaking to the Guardian and Zan Times, an Afghan news agency, at a border crossing in southern Afghanistan, Sahar*, 40, is travelling with five children and says she has no idea where she will live now. A widow originally from Baghlan, a city in northern Afghanistan, she had been living in Iran for more than a decade. She ran a small tailoring workshop and had recently put down a deposit on a home. Last week, she says she was detained, taken with her children from a refugee camp near the southern city of Shiraz, and deported. 'I didn't even get to pack their clothes. They came in the middle of the night. I begged them to give me just two days to collect my things. But they didn't listen. They threw us out like garbage.' Until recently, women were rarely forcibly returned from Iran. Men, often undocumented labourers, were more likely to face arrest and deportation. But Afghan border officials say there has been a recent shift, with at least 100 unaccompanied women deported through a single border point in Nimroz province, in the south of the country, between March and May this year. Returning to Afghanistan without a male guardian puts women in direct conflict with Taliban law, which prohibits women from travelling alone. Many of those returned from Iran find themselves stranded at the border, unable to continue their journey. With temperatures now reaching 52C, local officials say that a number of people have died during the forced crossings. Border officials say at least 13 bodies have arrived in the past two weeks, but it was not clear whether they had died of heat and thirst or were killed during Israel's airstrikes in Iran. Those arriving at border crossings in southern Afghanistan say they are thirsty, hungry and exhausted, having walked for hours under the sun. Most have no belongings, documentation or plan about where to live. 'From Shiraz to Zahedan [close to the Afghan border], they took everything from us. My bank card had 15 million tomans (£110). They charged 50,000 tomans for a bottle of water, 100,000 for a cold sandwich. And if you didn't have it, your child went without,' says Sahar. The Taliban says it offers short-term shelter and transport assistance to women deported without a mahram (an adult male who can accompany her on a journey). But many returnees say they received no such help. Under Taliban policy, most single women are barred from receiving land, travelling alone to their home province, or accessing employment. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Sahar says her options in Afghanistan are bleak. She has an elderly mother in Baghlan, but no home, no job and no husband, meaning, under Taliban rules, she cannot travel alone or work legally. 'I asked for land [from the Taliban], anything to start again. They said, 'You're a woman, you have no mahram. You don't qualify.'' Many end up relying on extended family or informal networks. One woman, recently returned with a newborn, says she was denied food and shelter. 'They told me: 'You're not eligible. You don't have a man with you.' But my baby is just four days old. Where am I supposed to go?' The UN agency, the International Organization for Migration, and other groups provide temporary aid at border crossings, but they do not have the mandate or resources for long-term support. In the buses taking deportees from detention to the Afghanistan borders, women also say they are subjected to verbal abuse, bribes demanded for basic services and no air conditioning in extreme heat. 'They said it's a waste for you Afghans. My child cried from the heat, but the driver laughed and mocked us,' says Zahra*. * Names have been changed Kreshma Fakhri contributed to this report.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
A kiss that led to a years-long nightmare, the Dull Men's Club, and a famous feminist mother
Happy Saturday! There was a lot to take in this week. Spacing out for a whole 90 minutes is the kind of challenge I need. Or perhaps a trip to the cinemas. But before I do that, let me bring you five stories worth your time. After a heart attack, Andrew McKean moved to a care facility. While stuck in the confines of a room for most of the day, McKean started writing about 'the slow unfolding of a life'. Sounds dull, right? Well, no actually – not once he started posting about it in the Dull Men's Club. What is it? An international club where people share online the tedium of everyday lives. Where? The idea originated in the 1980s in New York, when founder Grover Click and some friends decided to 'embrace their dullness', Susan Chenery writes. And now? It is immensely popular, with 1.9 million Facebook members on Click's original page. How long will it take to read: three minutes. Further reading: and then you must meet 'the dullest man in Britain'. Since retaking power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have enforced repressive laws on Afghan women through their 'morality police'. But now Afghan fathers, brothers and husbands say they are under pressure to ensure women in their families observe the restrictions. 'Changing attitudes and behaviours': the Guardian, with Rukhshana Media, interviewed men and young women about how morality laws are affecting families. One man from Bamyan province said: 'Men have become unpaid soldiers of the Taliban.' How long will it take to read: three minutes. Seventeen years ago, Nathan Dunne took a midnight swim in the icy waters of Hampstead Heath in London with his then girlfriend. As she kissed him in the cold, something inside him abruptly shifted. 'It was like being struck. Like something came down … The flip of a switch.' – Nathan Dunne. Dunne was locked out of his body, or at least that's how it felt, and had a sudden fear of water. Years later, he was diagnosed with depersonalisation disorder. How long will it take to read: five minutes. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion Guardian readers love architecture, but throw in some 'weekend-long parties and carnal pleasure', as Oliver Wainwright suggests, and you've got yourself a fabulous read on the hedonistic party palaces of New York's Fire Island. A 'queer Xanadu': Wainwright celebrates the legacy of late architect Horace Gifford, who defined the area's modernist beach-houses. 'It was made for sex': Calvin Klein is name dropped, including the time he bought one of Gifford's houses and had it renovated into a home 'made for sex'. How long will it take to read: four minutes. When Erica Jong's autobiographical novel Fear of Flying was published in 1973, it catapulted her to fame. The American author broke ground by writing openly about women's sexual desires – rarely done at the time. She quickly became known for her candour and wit. But for her daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, growing up as Erica's only child told a different story. A compelling read: In this excerpt from her new memoir, Jong-Fast reflects on the lingering pain of being 'still stuck in the mire of childhood', despite having 'created a different life' as an adult. How long will it take to read: nine minutes. Enjoying the Five Great Reads email? Then you'll love our weekly culture and lifestyle newsletter, Saved for Later. Sign up here to catch up on the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture, trends and tips for the weekend. And check out the full list of our local and international newsletters.
LBCI
05-06-2025
- LBCI
Afghan women UN staff forced to work from home after threats
Afghan women working for the United Nations in Kabul have been threatened by unidentified men because of their jobs, the organization and several women told AFP on Thursday. Multiple women working for various UN agencies told AFP on condition of anonymity they had been threatened on the street and over the phone by men warning them to "stay home". UN staffer Huda -- not her real name -- said that for weeks she has been bombarded with messages abusing her for "working with foreigners". "The messages keep coming and they are always harassing us... saying, 'Don't let me see you again, or else'," the young woman told AFP. She said her office had advised her to work from home until further notice. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that UN staff had been threatened. "Several United Nations female national staff members in the Afghan capital Kabul have been subjected to threats by unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN," it said in a statement. AFP
