Women ‘deprived’ of future
Baerbock compares Taliban regime to “Stone Age”
08/15/2023 11:51 am
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan two years ago, they promised moderate politics. However, this quickly turns out to be a lie: women in particular are increasingly being excluded from public life. Foreign Minister criticizes the precarious situation in the country.
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan two years ago, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized the Islamists’ leadership. “Two years of Taliban rule mean two years of regression towards the Stone Age for the people in Afghanistan,” said Baerbock. Millions of people in the country go hungry and almost every week the Taliban deprive women and girls of their freedom, added the Green politician.
Those responsible should not think that their actions will remain without consequences, it said. “As the EU, we put those on the sanctions list who banned women and girls from schools, universities and parks.” Baerbock ruled out normalizing relations with the Taliban government, which has not yet been recognized by any country in the world. These will not exist as long as they “continue to exclude half of society from working life and social participation.”
According to UN Women Germany, between September 2021 and May 2023, the Taliban issued more than 50 regulations affecting all aspects of women’s lives. They are currently denied access to further education, public service work and numerous public places such as parks. “Through a large number of strict regulations, women and girls are practically excluded from public life and robbed of their future opportunities,” said the chairwoman of UN Women Germany, Elke Ferner, according to a statement.
Baerbock: Work on recording persecuted Afghans
Baerbock went on to say that Germany does not leave the people in the country alone. “In the areas where we can still reach people, we have provided more than one billion euros for protection and rapid humanitarian emergency aid since the summer of 2021,” said Baerbock. More than 30,000 people from Afghanistan persecuted by the Taliban have also found refuge in Germany since August 2021. Work is in progress to add more.
On August 15, 2021, the militant Islamist Taliban took power in Afghanistan before the US troops had completely withdrawn. In the weeks before, they had taken more and more districts of the country. They initially promised to govern more moderately, but their rule has recently become increasingly authoritarian and dogmatic. The humanitarian and economic situation in the country is considered precarious.