Five Afghan Women
PARIS/ISLAMABAD: France evacuated five Afghan women from Pakistan who were facing threats to their lives.
On Monday, France received five Afghan women who had been “threatened by the Taliban”. Earlier, multiple requests were made to establish a humanitarian corridor for women excluded from public life.
Since the Taliban regained power in August 2021, they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam. Women are bearing the brunt of laws deemed “gender apartheid” by the United Nations.
Women and girls have been prohibited from attending high school and university, as well as from visiting parks, fairs, and gymnasiums.
Additionally, they have faced significant barriers to working for UN agencies or NGOs, with many losing their government jobs.
Didier Leschi, the chief of French immigration authorities, told media that the government is giving “special attention” to women primarily threatened by the Taliban. Women have their significant roles in Afghan society or close connections with Westerners.
Leschi stated, “This applies to the five women arriving today.”
The group of women includes a former university director, a former NGO consultant, a former television presenter, and a teacher at a clandestine school in Kabul. One of the women was accompanied by three children.
These women had been unable to leave Afghanistan during the airlifts to Western countries when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. They sought temporary refuge in neighboring Pakistan, from where French authorities coordinated their evacuation.
Upon their arrival in France, they will get asylum with housing while their refugee status. Leschi noted that similar evacuations for Afghan women with similar profiles were likely to occur in the future.
However, Delphine Rouilleault, the head of the France Terre D’Asile NGO stated that these evacuations are not the result of a political decision. They are doing it “after a strenuous struggle” to secure visas for the women.
Her organization will initially house the women in a center it operates, having advocated for months for the evacuation of more Afghan women facing similar circumstances.
