The European Union, several of its member states and some others have condemned in a joint statement that the Afghan minister in charge of higher education has prevented women from attending universities in Afghanistan as of December 20; The signatories to the statement warn that this step will have consequences for relations with the Middle Eastern country.
According to a statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. From the European Union, in addition to preventing women from entering universities, it is unacceptable that girls cannot attend secondary schools, and the measures under which women and girls in Afghanistan can only exercise their human and basic freedoms are very limited.
In the past year and a half, the Taliban has issued no less than 16 decrees, which, among other things, restrict women’s movement, deny them jobs, require complete veiling in terms of clothing, prohibit women from using certain public places, and create harsh conditions for women by placing them under guardianship of the man.
These actions show that the Taliban is ignoring the basic human rights and freedoms of the Afghan people. The signatory states emphasized that, with its entry, the Taliban movement isolated itself further from the Afghan population and the international community.
After the Taliban seized power last year, educational institutions in Afghanistan were segregated by gender, and women were excluded from most schools, including secondary schools. They also greatly restricted the fields in which they could study, for example, veterinary science, engineering, economics, agriculture, and journalism were strictly prohibited. Also, female students can only be taught by women or the elderly.
AfghanAfghanistanTalibanKabul
