Ignoring international travel bans, the Taliban is adamant on its decision regarding women’s higher education
Even if Atomic Bombs Are Dropped, We Don’t: Afghan Higher Education Minister
“If they drop a nuclear bomb on us, we will not back down from our decision to stop university education for women,” the Taliban’s minister of higher education said on Sunday. According to Al-Arabiya.net, EU foreign policy official Josep Borrell on Sunday condemned the Taliban’s decision to prevent women from working in local and international non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan. Borrell said in a statement. The European Union, as one of the largest providers of humanitarian aid and basic needs of the Afghan people, is committed to respecting international humanitarian law and principles to immediately withdraw its decision from the Taliban. The statement added that the European Union will assess the impact of the decision on the continuation of aid to the Afghan people. Additionally, three foreign aid organizations announced on Sunday that they would end their work in Afghanistan. All non-governmental organizations were ordered by the Taliban to suspend Stop our female employees from working. In a joint statement issued by Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE, we will suspend our programs until the Taliban’s announcement is clarified. We will continue to ask Afghanistan to provide life-saving aid to men and women alike. On Saturday, the Taliban issued orders to non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan to stop employing women, but the Taliban did not specify its directive regarding foreign female workers. The Afghan Taliban justified the decision not to enforce an appropriate dress code for female employees, including the hijab, and threatened to suspend the licenses of organizations that did not implement the decision. The Taliban’s move was condemned by the international community and the decision was feared to have a negative impact on aid delivery. The international community said that this decision of the Taliban comes in the context of restricting the freedom and rights of women in the country