The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan by publicly promising to preserve the basic freedoms of its people. But as quickly as the group took control, it reneged on those guarantees – completely block female students’ access to education Thanks to a series of crackdowns that culminated in a ban on Wednesday banning them from attending primary school, setting the country’s women back decades.
The decision to ban Afghan girls from receiving even a basic level of education outside the home comes just a day after the Taliban announced that women would no longer be allowed to attend public universities. or private.
These latest limitations have drawn condemnation from Western governments and human rights groups around the world. Even countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – which are frequently criticized for their unequal treatment of men and women – have urged the Taliban to back down.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the widespread criticism was significant and that the United States was working with various partners to hold Afghanistan’s de facto rulers to account, though he declined to predict any action.
“What you have already heard is a course of condemnation from around the world, and not just from us, but from countries – virtually every continent, including Muslim countries, which I think is in itself important and powerful” , Blinken said. told reporters. “And to be clear, and we’re engaging with other countries on this right now. There will be costs if this isn’t reversed.”
Afghan schoolgirls pose for a photo in a classroom in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2019. 22, 2022.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
But so far, Afghan leaders appear undeterred by any attempt to persuade or pressure the government to keep its initial promises, and have reportedly already taken heavy-handed action to enforce its newly installed policies. The Associated Press said on Thursday that the Taliban forced teenage Afghan girls out of a private education center and a student said girls studying there were beaten.
Almost immediately after the chaotic withdrawal of US troops in August 2021, the Taliban imposed new limits on female university students and closed lower-level schools, saying it would reopen them to girls and women last March after conditions improved. the security situation in the country and the implementation of measures. .]to completely separate the two sexes. When this deadline arrives, girls above 6th grade are still not allowed to return.
At the time, the United States retaliated by calling off talks with the Taliban focused on economic issues, but those meetings resumed in late June.
On Tuesday, Price called the crackdown “perhaps even fatal” to any hope the Taliban might have of improving its standing vis-a-vis the West. He also argued that the group – which has not been recognized by any country as Afghanistan’s rightful ruler – is eagerly seeking legitimacy on the international stage and hoping for better relations with the United States, saying the Taliban expressed these wishes “clearly”. .” for us in private.”
“The level of our support and the nature of our relationship is entirely dependent on the actions they take toward their own people and the actions they take with respect to our core interests,” Price said.
The benches of a school are empty in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 21, 2019. 22, 2022.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
However, since leaving the country, the Biden administration has given Afghanistan more than $1.1 billion in humanitarian aid and decided to unfreeze an additional $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves. While the State Department says it has placed guards to prevent the money from falling into the hands of the Taliban, it is monitoring according to the United Nations report that the group’s members are increasingly seeking to influence the money. help and accountability is hard to come by.
Price also argued that the administration has “many tools in its toolbox” to punish the Taliban for its restrictions, but the group itself and many of its prominent members are already subject to strict sanctions. Imposing further economic sanctions on the country risks aggravating an already serious humanitarian crisis ravaging Afghanistan.
If women are not allowed access to education, the State Department and human rights groups say the Afghan economy will certainly take further hits.
“There are no two ways to achieve this: women and girls must be allowed to work, to access education and to move freely,” said Elinor Raikes, vice president of international programs for the International Rescue Committee, in a press release. “Many educated Afghans have already left the country in the past eighteen months. Afghanistan urgently needs a future generation of doctors, teachers, civil servants and more.”
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