Marwa, center, was months away from college as the first woman in her family to do so. She cannot now come under Taliban rule as her brother, Hamid, who has left, will be present without her. They read together at their home in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 23, 2022.
Photo: Ahmad Sahel/AFP via Getty Images
In the early days of the US war in Afghanistan, easing the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban was a key part of the campaign to sell the conflict to the US public – and ultimately to end an indefinite military occupation. justify. Whether the United States has done much to help Afghan women is a moot point, largely depending on which women you ask.
Yet there is no doubt that today, under the Taliban, a young, educated and urbanized generation of Afghan women who have enjoyed a period of opportunity over the past 20 years are experiencing a catastrophic attack on their basic rights.
The Taliban’s recent decision to ban girls’ education beyond sixth grade is just the latest outrage against Afghan women, and another step in a campaign to drag Afghan society back into the climate of medieval repression that prevailed in the past. during the last Taliban government of the 1990s.
There is one thing that can easily be done to ease the suffering of Afghans under Taliban rule: to provide a home for Afghan refugees.
This unfortunate situation was not inevitable. There are ideological divisions within the Taliban, particularly between their leaders who spent the war years abroad and mingled in foreign capitals, and those who spent their time fighting a debilitating insurgency in the country.
While the Taliban government showed initial hints of pragmatism when it came to power, today it has become clear that the extremist faction of its leadership is in control and ready to promote the well-being of Afghans and the goodwill of the international community. to sacrifice for its ideological mission.
The United States has little influence left to change the calculus of an organization so determined to achieve its goals. If the words about human rights and women’s empowerment that justified the 20-year war had any meaning, there is one thing that could easily be done to ease the suffering of Afghans under Taliban rule without causing more harm risk: a home for Afghan refugees.
Last week, Congress failed to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, a measure that would have given the tens of thousands of Afghans who escaped to the US after the fall of Kabul a path to permanent legal residence. The move was supported by everyone from former senior US military officials to a letter to human rights organizations calling protection of the refugees a “moral obligation.” However, the Afghan Adjustment Bill was omitted from the omnibus spending bill passed at the end of the year, reportedly due to opposition from 89-year-old Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
These Afghans entered the US on flights hastily arranged by the US military when the Taliban marched on Kabul last summer. They remain in the US on a precarious legal status known as temporary humanitarian parole, which puts them at risk of deportation.
Many of these refugee families are those who fought with the US during the war or supported the US-backed government, making them and their families prime targets of the new Taliban regime.
Failure to pass the law also leaves Afghans who have worked with the US military but are today trapped in Afghanistan out in the cold, making them ineligible for special immigrant visas that offer a legal hope of immigration to the US. can offer when they flee the country.
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Many former US Afghan allies continue to be hunted by the Taliban as the group consolidates a regime that prioritizes revenge for the past 20 years over rebuilding their shattered country.
If they are not offered a path to permanent status and thus left to fend for themselves, the ex-U.S. military officials warned in their letter that “potential allies in future conflicts will remember what is now happening to our Afghan allies.”
The Taliban’s recent decision to kick women out of school has been met with outrage by the international community and international Islamic religious figures, but especially by ordinary Afghans. Many Afghans, including many men, have organized inspiring strike protests by their classes to denounce the measure.
Because they have done more than anyone else to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the American presence in their country, these are the people who deserve all the support that can be given to them and their families. Without that support, their future is likely to look bleak.
Donald Trump’s recent anti-immigrant presidency and the general tenor of Republican politics mean that any attempt to resettle refugees — those who are here today and those who may arrive in the future — will inevitably become a political battle. That said, a Democratic president will be in office for at least the next two years and will have the opportunity to use his political capital to right a clear injustice done to Afghans by the US – especially if, as seems likely, the Taliban will continue its provocative repression against Afghan women and minorities.
Amid the terrible events now unfolding, it is worth remembering that for a few months last year, when the Afghan Taliban appeared to be sending the most powerful army in the world to retreat, the Afghan Taliban enjoyed a strange kind of recognition — maybe even popularity — around the world. Everyone loves a winner, and the Taliban’s triumphant march to Kabul was greeted warmly by everyone from former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who said the group “broke the shackles of slavery,” to the American alt-right who their own idealized vision of hypermasculinity on the new social media savvy militants.
Even mainstream conservative politicians like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., claimed at the time that the Taliban was “more legitimate than the last government in Afghanistan or the current government here” — a statement made with apparent pleasure in the humiliation of a sitting Democratic president who had won final defeat chaired.
Today that bizarre honeymoon is over. It is time to face the harsh reality of Afghanistan under Taliban rule and its consequences for Afghans.
The US has done a lot of harm to the Afghan people by using their country as a proxy battlefield, subjecting them to sanctions and killing them in great numbers during the war. The least it can do today is provide a safe haven for those, especially women, who are fleeing the collapse of the shoddy government in Kabul that had supported the US government, and who are now victims of a harrowing attack on their fundamental freedoms by a Taliban regime is becoming more draconian by the day.
After King Amanullah Khan’s attempts to modernize the country in the 1920s, women were officially granted equality under the 1964 constitution. However, these rights were taken away in the 1990s by various temporary rulers such as the mujahideen and the Taliban during the Afghan Civil War .
Why is Afghanistan important to the world?
Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and Mughals, among others, rose to form great empires. The various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres made the area a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and later Islam throughout history.
What are 4 important facts about Afghanistan? QUICK FACTS See the article : After a year of historic political gains, black women continue to push toward governors.
- OFFICIAL NAME: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
- CAPITAL: Kabul.
- POPULATION: 34,940,837.
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Dari (Afghan-Persian), Pashtu.
- MONEY: Afghan.
- AREA: 251,823 square miles (652,230 square kilometers)
Why is Afghanistan so important geographically?
Afghanistan is a hub geographically, where South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia meet, it can be the main corridor for these three regions. On the same subject : ‘Invest in women’: Female athletes are changing the ownership of professional sports. The geo-economic, geostrategic and geopolitical positions of Pakistan and Afghanistan are historically very important.
What is the special thing about Afghanistan?
Afghanistan is a largely tribal society with different regions of the country having their own subculture. Despite this, almost all Afghans follow Islamic traditions, celebrate the same holidays, dress the same, consume the same food, listen to the same music, and are multilingual to some degree.
How does religion affect women’s rights in Afghanistan?
Religion and tradition are often used to justify the restriction of women’s and girls’ rights, particularly in the field of family law, and we know we must support women’s rights activists who challenge these frameworks.
What is happening to women’s rights in Afghanistan? Women’s rights are under heavy pressure within civil society. Since the Taliban’s takeover of power in August 2021, Afghan women have been on the front line of resistance against Taliban oppression. They protested peacefully and called for equality, their rights, justice and peace.
What is being done to help women’s rights in Afghanistan?
Today, the United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced a $30 million pledge to support gender equality and women’s empowerment in Afghanistan. This funding will be programmed through the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
How does religion affect Afghan culture?
Afghanistan’s cultural and national identity has been deeply shaped by Islam. Belief in the religion is evident in dress, dietary requirements, regular prayers and language. For example, reverence for Allah (God) is evident in the way many people speak; it is customary to include compliments in casual conversation.
What age can a girl marry in Afghanistan?
What is the minimum legal framework for marriage? According to Section 70 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Afghanistan 1977, the legal marriageable age is 16 for girls and 18 for boys. When a girl is under 16 years old, a marriage can be concluded with the consent of her father or a judge.
Can a girl get married at 14? Minors cannot get married. With parental consent, a person can get married at the age of 16. A 16- or 17-year-old teen can marry with the written consent of each living parent of the minor. A person under the age of 16 may marry with court approval and parental consent or if she is pregnant, or by order of a children’s or family division of the district court.
What is the minimum age requirement in Afghanistan?
According to Afghanistan’s labor laws, the minimum age to work is 18 years old. Children between the ages of 15 and 17 are only allowed to work less than 35 hours per week. Children under the age of 14 are not allowed to work by the law of the country.
What are womens rights like in Afghanistan?
The current Afghan government is committed to women’s rights, although it is only able to enforce the rights for a small proportion of Afghan women and only sporadically – mainly urban women who provide male relatives with access to education and jobs.
What is happening to women in Afghanistan? Afghan women are now usually not allowed to work outside the home, they must cover their faces in public, and they must be accompanied by a male chaperone when they travel. In addition, they continue to be victims of multiple forms of gender-based violence.
Does the Taliban allow womens education?
The Taliban government has suspended university education for all female students in Afghanistan, the latest step in its ruthless crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women.
