France welcomes, Monday, September 4 afternoon, five Afghan women, including one accompanied by three children, threatened by the Taliban and exiled in Pakistan. They must land at Paris – Charles-de-Gaulle airport, several months after fleeing the Taliban regime which regained power in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021.
Previously director of the University of Sciences, consultant for non-governmental organizations, television presenter or teacher in a “Secret School of Kabul”, they have in common not having been able to benefit from air bridges to Western countries when power fell to the hands of the Taliban. They had to flee on their own to Pakistan.
“According to the instructions given by the President of the Republic, particular attention is paid to women (…) threatened by the Taliban because they held important positions in Afghan society (…) or close contacts with Westerners. This is the case of the five women who arrive today »assured Agence France-Presse (AFP) Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior.
“Hundreds” of “hidden” women in Pakistan
On their arrival, these women will first be housed in a center for ” transit “ in the Paris region, registered as asylum seekers then referred to accommodation ” long term “the time that the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) decides on their files, he said.
“A low noise, the operation “Apagan” [d’exfiltration des Afghans vers la France] keep on going “added the prefect Didier Leschi, stressing that this kind of evacuation operation is “brought to reproduce if other women corresponding to this profile have found refuge in Pakistan”.
However, if these arrivals constitute ” good news “they are not “not the result of a political decision” but have been “hard won” by activists who fought “to obtain visas” to these women, lamented to AFP Delphine Rouilleault, director general of France land of asylum, whose center will initially welcome them.
The association, which has been supporting calls for the exfiltration of these women for several months, is asking for a “wider ad hoc hosting program”continued M.me Rouilleault, who estimates “hundreds” the number of Afghan women “hidden” in Pakistan. In the summer of 2021, Emmanuel Macron promised that France would stay “alongside the Afghans”, in full evacuation operation; 15,769 people were evacuated between spring 2021 and the end of July 2023, according to authorities.
“Widely neglected”
Two years after this declaration, “women, especially single women who lacked the necessary interpersonal skills, have been largely neglected”had lamented at the end of April in a forum at the World the Welcoming Afghan Women collective, notably led by journalists.
“For them, today there are only one-off initiatives, often carried out at arm’s length by journalists, researchers, organizations, to enable them to leave Afghanistan bit by bit”had regretted the collective, calling on France to set up a humanitarian reception program “emergency”.
Since its return to power, the Taliban regime has gradually reduced the rights of Afghan women, who can no longer go to school after 12 years, access universities or parks or sports halls. Women, who must cover themselves fully when they leave their homes, are no longer allowed to work for NGOs and are excluded from most civil service positions.
Neither the Quai d’Orsay nor the Elysée wished to comment on possible future evacuations. Without a position taken by the government, deplores France Terre d’Asile, the operation has in any case no value of“French commitment”.