women who are banned from studying at universities show contempt for Taliban “dress codes”.
After the decision of the Taliban government, Afghan women were deprived of higher education from Tuesday. International reactions are mounting.
The size fell like an ax. From Tuesday, December 20, the doors of public and private universities in Afghanistan are closed to women. The ban on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of young women sat for university entrance exams.
To justify their decisions, the Taliban showed contempt for the “Taliban”.dress code“. “These students going to university (…) did not follow the instructions of the hijab (head and neck veil). Hijab is compulsory in IslamTaliban Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem said in an interview on state television.
According to the minister, girls studying in a province far from their homesthey also did not travel with a “mahram” who was an adult male companion“. “Our Afghan honor does not allow a young Muslim woman from one province to find herself in a distant province without her father, brother or husband accompanying her.“he said.
Read alsoAfghan women deprived of university: “The Taliban prevented me from returning with a whip”
International backlash is mounting in response to the decision, while secondary education for most adolescent girls across the country has already been banned.
SEE ALSO – Afghanistan: women demonstrated for the right to go to university
Turkey: “Neither a Muslim nor a humanitarian decision”
This measure is a decisionneither Muslim nor humanTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlud Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday. “We reject this ban, we do not believe it is fair. Hopefully, God willing, they will return from this decisionThe minister said this at a press conference. “How does women’s education harm humanity?– asked Mevlud Çavuşoğlu.
Muslim-majority Turkey is the only NATO member country to keep its embassy in Kabul open since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
Read alsoIn Afghanistan, these schools are resisting the Taliban
Convictions from the US, UK and France
The United States condemnedin the most powerful wayThe Taliban’s decision, and the UK’s “seriously back off“.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized “with the greatest firmness“Such a decision has been judged”deep shock“. “This decision adds to the countless list of violations and restrictions basic rights and freedoms of Afghan women Announced by the Taliban“, – the port’s spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre reacted during the briefing. “France recalls its permanent commitment to the right to universal education and special attention to the protection of the rights of girls, adolescents and women.“.
“Crime against humanity” for G7
In turn, the G7, seized by Berlin, decided that these measures “can organize.crime against humanity“, the press release says.
Read alsoIn Afghanistan, the Taliban dramatize their view of women
The ministers, who met via video conference, called on the Taliban regime to reverse its decision to ban women from studying at universities. “The Taliban’s policy of erasing women from public life will affect our countries’ relations with the Taliban.they warn.
SEE ALSO – G7: The Taliban’s treatment of women could be a “crime against humanity”.
Iran: “Barriers to Education”
Iran, which borders Turkey and Afghanistan, also expressed regret.to learn that Afghan girls and women face barriers to university educationThis was announced by the spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasir Kanani.
Tehran hopes that Afghan officialswill quickly pave the way for the restoration of girls’ education at all levels“, he added. Women in Iran have a high level of education, but the country is now heavily criticized by Western countries for its violent suppression of protests that have rocked the Islamic Republic since September. They have turned into a protest movement against the regime, which led to the death of a young Iranian Kurd arrested by moral police.
UNESCO is calling for the “immediate lifting” of the ban
There is UNESCOfirmcondemned the regime’s decision on Thursday and called “to his immediate dismissal“. “UNESCO strongly condemns the Taliban’s decision to ban women from university, 15 months after girls were expelled from secondary school.“, condemned the educational organization that emphasizes”is a serious violation of human dignity and the right to basic education“.
This decision”It will have irreversible and serious consequences for the social, cultural and economic development of Afghanistan“and”further isolating the country at a time when more than 90% of the population lives in poverty“, – warns UNESCO.
SEE ALSO – The UN opens an investigation into the repressions in Iran
