Nearly 500 Afghan migrants expelled from Pakistan

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations of Afghanistan has announced that hundreds of Afghan migrants have returned to the country after being expelled by Pakistan.

The ministry stated in a newsletter on Saturday, that around 471 Afghan migrants returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham border in Nangarhar province.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Migrants Affairs added that these migrants re-entered the country through the mentioned border on Thursday following their expulsion.

Recently, Pakistan and Iran have imposed strict restrictions on Afghan migrants, often citing the lack of proper residency documents as the primary reason for expulsion from neighboring countries.

This comes amid previous instances where Afghan citizens were detained and subsequently expelled from Pakistan by Pakistani authorities for various reasons.

However, Pakistani officials have repeatedly emphasized that the primary reason for detaining Afghan migrants in their country is the lack of legal residency documents.

The situation underscores the challenges faced by Afghan migrants in neighboring countries and the complexities surrounding their status and rights in those nations.

Nearly 500 Afghan migrants expelled from Pakistan
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Kabul Responds to Global Concerns on Women’s Rights

According to Mujahid, efforts are being made to resolve any existing issues soon.

In response to global concerns over the violation of women’s rights, the Islamic Emirate said that human rights organizations are pursuing intelligence objectives under the guise of human rights in Afghanistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, pledged that women’s rights in Afghanistan are secure and that international organizations should not be concerned.

According to Mujahid, efforts are being made to resolve any existing issues soon.

“Various intelligence agencies should not worry about the rights situation in Afghanistan; rest assured that the government is committed to its obligations towards the people and ensures the fulfillment of their rights,” he told to TOLOnews.

Previously, the United Nations Secretary-General, the United States, Amnesty International, and eight other entities called on the Islamic Emirate, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, to lift the bans against women and girls as soon as possible.

“A global backlash against women’s rights is threatening, and in some cases reversing, progress in developing and developed countries alike. The most egregious example is Afghanistan, where women and girls have been barred from much of the education system, from employment outside the home, and from most public spaces,” Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, said.

Amnesty International and eight other bodies in a joint statement called on the international community to significantly increase their support for women in Afghanistan.

“On International Women’s Day, we, the undersigned organisations, urgently appeal to the international community to significantly bolster its support and actively safeguard the human rights of Afghan women and girls, including Afghan women human rights defenders who face persecution for their peaceful campaigns for rights and basic freedoms,” the joint statement reads.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, US representatives for Afghanistan expressed their concerns over the violation of women’s rights in the country. Thomas West and Rina Amiri stated that if the world does not support women in Afghanistan, it will affect women’s rights globally.

The US special representative for Afghanistan Thomas West said on X: “Today, International Women’s Day, we honor the tireless work & courage of Afghan women & girls to secure their rights – to be educated at all levels, to work & support their families, & to participate in public life. These are matters of stability for Afghanistan & the region.”

US special envoy for Afghan human rights and women, Rina Amiri, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, on X said: “On International Women’s Day 2024, we honor the extraordinary courage of Afghan women & girls as they defend their rights against the Taliban’s extreme, systemic & relentless edicts. If the world doesn’t stand up in support of Afghan women, we put in peril women’s rights everywhere.”

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, criticized the restrictions against women and girls in the country, stating that since the Islamic Emirate’s return to power, women have been deprived of their fundamental rights and face systematic discrimination.

“For more than two and a half years, Afghan women have been deprived of all their Islamic and human rights, including the right to work and education, and due to the Taliban’s misguided and extremist policies, they have been systematically eliminated from all social, economic, and political spheres,” Faiq said on X.

“The Islamic Emirate should come to an agreement with the international community so that the restrictions imposed on women can be lifted,” Laila, a student told TOLOnews.

“The conditions of the world are not against Sharia, and they want you [Islamic Emirate] to grant our sisters the right to education, they want you to give our sisters the right to work within the framework of Islamic Sharia,” Zakiullah Mohammadi, a university lecturer, told TOLOnews.

On Friday several UN entities, including the UN Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), United Nations Women, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called on the Islamic Emirate to lift the current bans against women.

Kabul Responds to Global Concerns on Women’s Rights
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Intl Organizations Pledge for Support Afghan Women

IPI in a statement said that the caretaker government in Afghanistan has issued over 85 decrees focused on curtailing girls’ and women’s rights. 

The International Peace Institute (IPI) together with the Atlantic Council and Malala Fund and other organizations, hosted a discussion on the situation of women and “Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan” on March 8th.

IPI in a statement said that the caretaker government in Afghanistan has issued over 85 decrees focused on curtailing girls’ and women’s rights.

The participants in this discussion asked for international support of women in Afghanistan.

Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai in the discussion called on the world not to forget about Afghan women.

“This is important that we as a global community stand with them, because if we are willing to show that we are looking away from the Afghan women, it sends a devastating message to the women and girls in Afghanistan, but also to girls everywhere,” she said.

“It’s the only country in the world, where the right to education for women and girls over 12 years of age is prohibited. Right to work, right to access to health, right to access to justice, freedom of association, freedom of expression so the concept of gender apartheid is not just a theoretical construct or a legal abstraction, it’s the reality of millions of girls and women today,” said Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, Chair, UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls.

This event was co-sponsored by the Global Justice Center, Rawadari human rights organization, and Georgetown Institute of Women.

Although the Islamic Emirate has not said anything about the issued decrees, it emphasizes that the suspension of education for women and girls does not equate to imposing sanctions on girls in Afghanistan.

“Sisters are present in various sectors like men, the paralysis in the field of women’s education and work is for the improvement and preservation of the sisters not because of the imposition of punishment on them,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.

“We ask the Islamic Emirate to remove the imposed restrictions on women in the social and educational sectors,” said Halima, a student.

Earlier, Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke about the existence of gender discrimination after the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan. The issue which has been repeatedly rejected by the Islamic Emirate.

Intl Organizations Pledge for Support Afghan Women
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Afghanistan’s singing sisters defying the Taliban from under a burka

By Kawoon Khamoosh

BBC World News

9 March 2024, 01:31 GMT

As the world was watching the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, two sisters in Kabul were among millions of women in Afghanistan who could directly feel the new regime tightening its grip on them.

They decided they couldn’t just stand back and watch women’s freedoms being restricted, and started secretly using the power of their voices to resist.

Putting themselves in great danger in a country where musicians can be arrested, they started a singing movement on social media known as the Last Torch.

“We’re going to sing this but it could cost us our lives,” one of them said in a recorded video, before they started the tune.

It was released in August 2021, just days after the Taliban takeover, and quickly went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp.

Without any background in music, the sisters – who wear burkas to conceal their identity – became a musical phenomenon.

“Our fight started from right under the flag of the Taliban and against the Taliban,” says Shaqayeq (not her real name), the younger member of the duo.

“Before the Taliban came to power, we had never written a single poem. This is what the Taliban did to us.”

After returning to power, it took the Taliban less than 20 days to implement its unique vision for Afghanistan.

Imposing Sharia (Islamic religious law) on everyday life and restricting women’s access to education were among their priorities. Women took to the streets of Kabul and other major cities to resist, but faced a harsh crackdown.

“Women were the last light of hope we could see,” says Shaqayeq.

“That’s why we decided to call ourselves the Last Torch. Thinking that we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, we decided to start a secret protest from home.”

The pair soon released other songs, sung from under blue burkas, just as the first song was.

One was a famous poem by the late Nadia Anjuman, who wrote it in protest against the first Taliban takeover in 1996.

How can I speak of honey when my mouth is filled with poison?

Alas my mouth is smashed by a cruel fist…

Oh for the day that I break the cage,

Break free from this isolation and sing in joy.

As the Taliban banned women’s education, Nadia Anjuman and her friends used to meet at an underground school, The Golden Needle, where they would pretend to be sewing but would instead read books. They too wore the blue burka, known as chadari in Afghanistan.

The older of the two singing sisters, Mashal (also a pseudonym), compares the burka to “‘a mobile cage”.

“It’s like a graveyard where the dreams of thousands of women and girls are buried,” she says.

“This burka is like a stone that the Taliban threw on women 25 years ago,” Shaqayeq adds. “And they did it again when they returned to power.

“We wanted to use the weapon they used against us, to fight back against their restrictions.”

The sisters have only released seven songs so far, but each has resonated strongly with women across the country. To begin with they used other writers’ lyrics, but they reached a point “where no poem could explain how we felt,” Shaqayeq says, so they started writing their own.

Their themes are the suffocating limitations placed on women’s everyday lives, the imprisonment of activists and violations of human rights.

Fans have responded by posting their own performances of the songs on social media. In some cases they have also worn burkas as a disguise, while one group of Afghan school students living outside the country recorded a version on stage in the school auditorium.

This is the opposite of what the Taliban wanted to achieve.

One of its first measures after taking power was to replace the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The new ministry has not only enforced wearing of the burka, but also condemned music for supposedly destroying the roots of Islam.

“Singing and listening to music is very harmful,” said Sawabgul, an official who appeared in one of the ministry’s propaganda videos. “It distracts people from God’s prayers… Everyone should stay away from it.”

Soon there were videos of Taliban foot soldiers on social media, burning musical instruments and parading arrested musicians.

Shaqayeq says she has had many sleepless nights thinking the Taliban might identify them.

“We have seen their threats on social media: ‘Once we find you, we know how to remove your tongue from your throat,'” says Mashal.

“Our parents get scared whenever they read these comments. They say maybe it’s enough and we should stop… But we tell them we can’t, we cannot just continue with our normal lives.”

For their security, the sisters left the country last year but they hope to return soon.

Sonita Alizada, a professional rapper from Afghanistan now living in Canada, is one of those who has admired the Last Torch’s videos from abroad.

“When I saw two women under a burka singing, honestly I was crying,” she says.

She was born in 1996, the year the Taliban first took power, and her family fled to Iran when she was just a child. There her mother tried to sell her into a forced marriage, but she found her way out through music. Like the two sisters of the Last Torch, she sees the women who have protested against the Taliban as a sign of hope.

One of the sisters’ songs refers to the protesters directly.

Your fight is beautiful. Your female scream.

You are my broken picture in the window.

“The situation is very disappointing in Afghanistan right now because we have lost decades of progress,” Sonita says. “But in this darkness there’s a light still burning. We see individuals fighting with their own talent.”

The BBC also showed one of the sisters’ most recent songs to Farida Mahwash, one of Afghanistan’s most celebrated female singers, with a career of over half a century until her recent retirement.

“These two singers will turn four and then become 10, and then 1,000,” she said. “If one day they go on stage, I’ll walk with them even if I have to use a walking stick.”

In Kabul, the crackdown on activism has further intensified in the past year, with authorities banning women from holding rallies and arresting those who defy the ban.

One of the sisters’ latest songs is about female activists who were imprisoned by the Taliban and kept in what Human Rights Watch described as “abusive conditions”.

The waves of female voices

break locks and chains of prison.

This pen filled with our blood

breaks your swords and arrows.

“These poems are just a small part of the grief and pain we have in our hearts,” Shaqayeq says.

“The pain and struggle of the people of Afghanistan, and the grief they have endured under the Taliban in the last years, can’t fit in any poem.”

The UN says the Taliban could be responsible for gender apartheid if it continues with its current policies. The Taliban has responded that it is implementing Sharia and won’t accept outside interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Shaqayeq and Mashal are working on their next songs. They are hoping to echo the voice of women in Afghanistan in their fight for freedom.

“Our voice won’t be silenced. We are not tired. It’s just the beginning of our fight.”

The sisters’ names have been changed for their safety.

 

Afghanistan’s singing sisters defying the Taliban from under a burka
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UN: Afghan women’s rights struggle goes global

Khaama Press

The UN Special Representative for Women in Afghanistan stressed on March 8th that the fight for Afghan women’s rights is a global struggle. Alison Davidian highlighted the urgent need for the international community to address the shrinking space for Afghan women and girls amidst the ongoing challenges of war, poverty, and isolation.

The UN office in Afghanistan released a statement on March 8th, International Women’s Day, calling once again for the lifting of restrictions on women. The office warned that without the removal of these restrictions, Afghanistan risks plunging deeper into poverty and isolation. Citing Roza Otunbayeva, head of UNAMA, the statement stressed the need to “double down on investment in Afghan women.” Otunbayeva noted that the current situation in Afghanistan is disastrously and deliberately harming Afghan women and girls, obstructing the nation’s path to lasting peace and prosperity.

Otunbayeva also expressed concern over the fear of arbitrary detentions by the Taliban, targeting women and girls under the guise of enforcing their dress codes, pushing them further into isolation. The UN stated that the Taliban’s restrictions on Afghan women violate Afghanistan’s international human rights commitments.

According to the United Nations, more than 12 million women in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid this year. March 8th arrives amidst the Taliban’s rule over the past two and a half years, during which dozens of decrees have stripped women of many of their rights.

The Taliban have barred women and girls from attending universities and schools beyond the sixth grade and imposed broad restrictions on their employment, movement, and travel, severely limiting their public presence.

Furthermore, Afghan women have periodically protested in open and closed spaces against the Taliban’s policies, leading to the arrest of some by the group.

A significant number of organizations, experts, and human rights activists believe that the Taliban’s policies against Afghan women amount to “gender apartheid” and are advocating for its formal recognition.

UN: Afghan women’s rights struggle goes global
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Blinken agrees to full review of US Afghanistan withdrawal documents: McCaul

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States says that Antony Blinken has agreed to his request to provide all classified documents related to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

According to the Daily Mail, Michael McCaul has stated that with the Secretary of State’s agreement to provide documents on the Afghanistan withdrawal, the hearing on the accusation of his contempt of Congress is currently being postponed.

Michael McCaul, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States, has said that these documents will provide important information for investigations into the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States said that he had a good phone conversation with Blinken last night and he assured him that the documents would be provided to the committee today.

These documents include transcripts of interviews with officials and American personnel involved in planning and managing the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and are part of the State Department’s reviews after the chaotic departure of American forces from Kabul.

Michael McCaul, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States, had asked the State Department of this country to provide a set of government documents on the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan to this committee last year. However, the U.S. Secretary of State had not agreed to provide some of these documents.

Following that, McCaul had threatened Blinken last week that if he did not present these documents to the committee, on Thursday, the hearing on the accusation of contempt of Congress against the Secretary of State, which is considered a crime, would be held.

Blinken agrees to full review of US Afghanistan withdrawal documents: McCaul
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Afghan women stage rare protests, braving Taliban reprisals

Al Jazeera

Published On 8 Mar 2024

As handfuls gather on International Women’s Day, UN rights rapporteur calls for release of detained rights activists.

Small groups of Afghan women have gathered in private spaces to demand that harsh restrictions on their freedoms be lifted, despite recent Taliban crackdowns on protests that have seen activists detained.

The demonstrations were staged in different locations, including the provinces of Takhar and Balkh, as the world celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday, according to the activists from the Purple Saturdays group – an organisation formed to raise awareness and oppose restrictions on women’s freedoms.

In northern Takhar province, seven women held papers obscuring their faces, reading “Rights, Justice, Freedom”.

“Our silence and fear is the biggest weapon of the Taliban,” a demonstrator whose face was covered said in a video.

In Balkh province, several women also held up signs saying “Don’t give the Taliban a chance” in front of a banner reading “Save Afghanistan Women”.

About 20 women gathered at an event organised by the Afghanistan Association of the Blind in northern Mazar-i-Sharif city on Thursday. “It is very painful that a woman has no value in our society today. She cannot use any of her rights,” said one attendee.

On Friday, Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, called on the Taliban government “to immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been arbitrarily detained for defending human rights, especially the rights of women and girls”.

Women have protested sporadically against rules handed down by the Taliban authorities, but often in small groups and indoors out of fear of reprisals, after several activists were detained for months.

‘Poverty and isolation’

Since surging back to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed numerous restrictions on women and girls, ordering women to cover up when leaving home, stopping girls and women from attending high school or university, and banning them from public spaces with laws the UN has labelled “gender apartheid”.

They also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, and most female government employees were dismissed from their jobs or paid to stay at home.

Taliban authorities have repeatedly dismissed international criticism as propaganda. On Friday, spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban government was committed to women’s rights within the framework of Islam, according to an interview with Tolo News.

Marking International Women’s Day, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), urged the Taliban government to lift restrictions on women and girls, saying not doing so risked “further pushing the country into deeper poverty and isolation”.

According to UNAMA, more than 12 million Afghan women are in need of humanitarian assistance. The mission raised fears over recent crackdown on non-compliance with the Islamic dress code, which was “pushing women into even greater isolation due to fear of arbitrary arrest”.

Alison Davidian, special representative for UN Women in Afghanistan, said the plight of Afghan women and girls was “a global fight and a battle for women’s rights everywhere”.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Afghan women stage rare protests, braving Taliban reprisals
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Father of Marine Killed in Afghanistan Is Arrested During Biden’s Address

The New York Times

Steve Nikoui yelled “Abbey Gate, Abbey Gate” during the speech, a reference to where his son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, and 12 other troops were killed during the chaotic final days of the U.S. presence in Kabul.

Steve Nikoui, the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed in 2021 during the evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for interrupting President Biden during his State of the Union address, according to Capitol Police.

Mr. Nikoui yelled “Abbey Gate, Abbey Gate” during the president’s speech, a reference to the place where his son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, and 12 other troops were killed during the chaotic final days of the U.S. presence in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Police officers quickly removed Mr. Nikoui, 51, from the gallery where he was a guest of Representative Brian Mast, Republican of Florida. Mr. Biden paused briefly during the interruption but moved on quickly.

A statement from the Capitol Police said officers had warned Mr. Nikoui to stop, and when he did not, they removed him from the chamber.

In the statement, officers said: “This is a routine charge on Capitol Hill. People who illegally demonstrate/disrupt Congress typically are released after they pay a $50 fine, so the misdemeanor charge is resolved without going to court.”

Mr. Nikoui has been a vocal critic of Mr. Biden since the death of his son. In August 2021, he told The Daily Beast that he blamed the president for the tragedy.

“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” Mr. Nikoui said at the time, according to the news organization.

“I blame my own military leaders,” he said, adding, “Biden turned his back on him. That’s it.”

Father of Marine Killed in Afghanistan Is Arrested During Biden’s Address
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India Emphasizes on Expanding Relations with Afghanistan

Muttaqi also called for the facilitation of issuing commercial, health, and educational visas for Afghan citizens.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ joint secretary J.P Singh, said that New Delhi wants to expand its relations with Kabul in both political and economic sectors.

The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi quoting J.P Singh said on X that he expressed optimism about security provision, combating Daesh, and narcotics during his meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister.

“The two sides discussed relations between the two countries in diplomatic and economic sectors. India is one of the important countries in the region, and the Islamic Emirate wants to ensure good relations with India,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister, appreciated India’s humanitarian aid in this meeting and called for strengthening of Kabul’s relations with New Delhi.

Muttaqi also called for the facilitation of issuing commercial, health, and educational visas for Afghan citizens.

“First, a constitution is formed, which clearly defines foreign policy, and based on that, we will have a codified foreign policy, through which we actively maintain relations with other countries without reacting, defining our friends and enemies,” Rashid Qutbzadeh, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

Meanwhile, J.P Singh discussed increasing trade from Afghanistan to India, and solving the challenges of traders from both sides in a separate meeting with some Afghan investors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The Chamber of Commerce’s request was for India to issue visas to Afghan traders so they can conduct their trade between Afghanistan and India effectively,” Khairuddin Mayel, deputy of ACCI said.

At the same time, former President Hamid Karzai, during his meeting with India’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, called for New Delhi’s increased cooperation in the education sector in Afghanistan.

India Emphasizes on Expanding Relations with Afghanistan
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Calls for Improvement of Women’s Situation on Intl Women’s Day

Hamid Karzai on International Women’s Day called on the caretaker government to reopen the doors of schools and universities for girls.

Today (Friday) is March 8th, International Women’s Day.

The former president Hamid Karzai on International Women’s Day called on the caretaker government to reopen the doors of schools and universities for girls.

Karzai said in a statement that to achieve progress, evolution, and freedom from dependency, it is essential to pay serious attention to the education and job opportunities for women and to provide an environment for the growth and flourishing of the bright talents of girls in the country.

The former president said that the future of Afghanistan also depends on the solidarity and meaningful participation of both women and men of the country.

“According to history, Afghan women have had a significant presence side by side with men in all developments and arenas, especially in the struggles for independence, and have established their role and position as responsible members of society,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said that women have the duty to educate the next generation and guide society towards goodness and success.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a statement also called on the Afghan caretaker government to end the restrictions imposed on women in Afghanistan.

The statement quoted Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA, as saying: “As we mark this year’s International Women’s Day, the global theme of ‘invest in women’ should be a moment when we redouble our efforts to unlock even greater progress.”

The World Health Organization in Afghanistan has also said that investing in Afghan women is the cornerstone of building an inclusive society, and the progress of Afghan women will benefit everyone.

The European Union has also issued a message on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

The EU wrote on X: Our EU Chargée and colleagues — stand strong and acknowledge the importance of equality, rights and opportunities for women across Afghanistan and worldwide.”

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, emphasizing the Islamic Emirate’s consistent stance, told TOLOnews that effective steps have been taken by the Islamic Emirate to secure women’s rights in Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate remains committed to women’s rights within the framework of Islam.

“The problems our sisters in Afghanistan faced, such as being deprived of rights in their marriage, not being paid inheritance, being forced into marriage, and our widow sisters who were not able to decide for their own, were addressed by a decree that covered eight issues and required courts to take effective steps in this issue and to follow up on the matter very seriously, and other issues are also being addressed by the Islamic Emirate,” Mujahid said.

International Women’s Day originated from a labor movement in North America and Europe and became a significant event recognized by the United Nations, celebrated worldwide annually.

Calls for Improvement of Women’s Situation on Intl Women’s Day
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