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Bennett describes IEA as united but divided over girls’ education
The UN's Special Human Rights Rapporteur for Afghanistan, said on Sunday at the Doha Forum that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has a unified vision, but is divided on the issue of women's education.
According to Richard Bennett, a former Minister of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate was dismissed for supporting women's education.
He did not name the dismissed official, but before Nada Mohammad Nadim, Acting Minister of Higher Education, Abdul Baqi Haqqani was acting minister of higher education.
"The unity of the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) is one of their strengths, because they consider unity to be very important. But in the matter of education, I don't think they have this integrity. We have seen this difference in some statements," Bennett said.
He also said that in a meeting with the former minister of education, the official talked about providing education for girls in universities in separate classes.
"We had detailed technical discussions about the education of women and girls," Bennett said. However, the minister was removed from his post a few months later, Bennett said.
Bennett said it was probably because "Kandahar saw his views on education as very open and progressive."
At the same time, the special representative of the US for Afghanistan's women's affairs and human rights also said in this meeting that the Islamic Emirate's policies towards women have no religious or economic basis.
Rina Amiri, criticized the restrictions imposed on women's right to education, work, travel and political participation, and said that these restrictions have no economic basis. According to the United Nations assessment, due to the unemployment of women in Afghanistan, $1 billion dollars of income has decreased and the work ban and ban on women's education has had a destructive effect on families.
"I don't think it has an economic basis, certainly not," said Amiri.
She said the United Nations has “estimated that Afghanistan has lost more than $1 billion dollars in income, and this is actually destroying Afghanistan."
Emphasizing that banning women's education and work has no religious basis, Amiri said that 57 countries in the world said at the meeting of the Islamic Organization that banning women's education and work is in conflict with Islamic values.
"I don't think it has anything to do with religion," she said. "I was earlier at the conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of Women in Jeddah, where 57 countries participated and said that this is against the holy religion of Islam, this is politics."
The Islamic Emirate, however, says that human rights and women's rights are provided within the framework of Sharia law and they do not allow outside interference in internal matters.
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Human traffickers should be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison: IEA leader
The Leader of the Islamic Emirate has issued a decree instructing the Ministry of Interior Affairs to prevent human trafficking and to arrest and refer culprits to military courts.
The decree containing six articles says that that military courts should sentence human traffickers to one year in prison for the first time, two years if repeated for the second time and three years if repeated for the third time.
The ministries of Hajj, information, telecommunications, borders, propagation of virtue, as well as religious scholars are asked to inform the public about the dangers and adverse consequences of travelling through smuggling routes.
The decree comes as the rate of migration has increased following the political change in Afghanistan in 2021.
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Eight Afghan migrants die as boat capsizes off Greek island
Eight Afghan migrants died after a speedboat carrying migrants capsized off Greece's eastern island of Rhodes on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Greek authorities said that the capsizing was the result of the boat’s maneuvering to evade a patrol vessel.
A total of 18 migrants — 12 men, three women and three minors — all Afghan nationals, were rescued, Greece's coast guard said Saturday. The dead were also from Afghanistan, it said.
Some migrants remained hospitalized, with one in critical condition, authorities said.
Two Turkish citizens, ages 23 and 19, were arrested as the suspected traffickers. The boat sank after capsizing, the coast guard said.
The sinking off Rhodes was the second deadly incident involving migrants in the past week.
Seven migrants were killed and dozens were believed missing after a boat partially sank south of the island of Crete over the weekend — one of four rescue operations during which more than 200 migrants were rescued.
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Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires meets with IEA deputy foreign minister
Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Per Albert Ilsaas, on Saturday met with IEA’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanikzai, in Kabul.
Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
In addition to focusing on bilateral political, humanitarian, and other pertinent issues, the two sides expressed hope that continued engagement would lead to constructive solutions to related issues.
This comes two weeks after the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi expressed disappointment regarding the decision by the Norwegian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
Balkhi said in a post on X that such decisions should not be linked with internal affairs of other countries.
“Diplomatic engagement is most effective when it fosters mutual understanding and respect, even amidst differing viewpoints,” he stated.
“Access to consular services is a fundamental right of all nationals. We strongly urge all parties to prioritize this principle in the spirit of international cooperation,” he added.
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