Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration has ordered all native and overseas non-governmental organisations (NGO) to cease feminine workers from coming to work, in response to an economic system ministry letter, within the newest crackdown on girls’s freedoms.
The letter, confirmed by economic system ministry spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib on Saturday, mentioned the feminine workers weren’t allowed to work till additional discover as a result of some had not adhered to the administration’s interpretation of Islamic costume code for ladies.
The letter mentioned any NGO discovered not complying with the order would have their working licence revoked in Afghanistan.
The order got here days after the Taliban-run administration ordered universities to shut to girls, prompting sturdy international condemnation and sparking some protests and heavy criticism inside Afghanistan.
It was not instantly clear how the order would have an effect on United Nations companies, which have a big presence in Afghanistan delivering companies amid the nation’s humanitarian disaster.
When requested whether or not the foundations included UN companies, Habib mentioned the letter utilized to organisations below Afghanistan’s coordinating physique for humanitarian organisations, generally known as ACBAR. That physique doesn’t embody the United Nations, however contains greater than 180 native and worldwide NGOs.
Nonetheless, the United Nations usually contracts with NGOs registered in Afghanistan to hold out its humanitarian work.
Help staff say feminine staff are essential to making sure girls can entry assist.
‘Training is our proper’
Taliban safety forces used a water cannon to disperse girls protesting the ban on college training for ladies on Saturday, witnesses mentioned.
Because the announcement on Tuesday, Afghan girls have since demonstrated in main cities in opposition to the ban, a uncommon signal of home protest for the reason that Taliban seized energy final yr.
Based on witnesses within the western metropolis of Herat, about two dozen girls on Saturday have been heading to the provincial governor’s home to protest the ban, chanting, “Training is our proper,” after they have been pushed again by safety forces firing the water cannon.
One of many protest organisers, Maryam, mentioned between 100 and 150 girls took half within the protest, shifting in small teams from completely different elements of town in direction of a central assembly level. She didn’t give her final identify for concern of reprisals.
“There was safety on each road, each sq., armoured automobiles and armed males,” she mentioned. “Once we began our protest, in Tariqi Park, the Taliban took branches from the timber and beat us. However we continued our protest. They elevated their safety presence. Round 11am [06:30 GMT], they introduced out the water cannon.”
A spokesman for the provincial governor, Hamidullah Mutawakil, claimed there have been solely 4 or 5 protesters. “That they had no agenda, they only got here right here to make a movie,” he mentioned.
There was widespread worldwide condemnation of the college ban, together with from Muslim-majority international locations reminiscent of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, in addition to warnings from the USA and the G7 group of main industrial nations that the coverage may have penalties for the Taliban.
An official within the Taliban authorities, Minister of Greater Training Nida Mohammad Nadim, spoke in regards to the ban for the primary time on Thursday in an interview with the Afghan state tv. He mentioned the ban was crucial to forestall the blending of genders in universities and since he believes some topics being taught violated the ideas of Islam.
He mentioned the ban could be in place till additional discover.
Regardless of initially promising a extra reasonable rule respecting rights for ladies and minorities, the Taliban has broadly carried out its interpretation of Islamic regulation because it seized energy in August 2021.
It has additionally restricted girls from most fields of employment, ordered them to put on head-to-toe clothes in public, and banned them from parks and gymnasiums.
Additionally Saturday, within the southwestern Pakistani metropolis of Quetta, dozens of Afghan refugee college students protested in opposition to the ban on feminine larger training of their homeland and demanded the rapid reopening of campuses for ladies.