Taliban now ban women from studying abroad

After banning women from visiting parks, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have now barred the girl students from seeking education abroad.

"After the Taliban shut universities for women, my only hope was to get a scholarship which would help me study abroad," says 20-year-old Afghan student Natkai.

Natkai's name has been changed for her own safety.

The Taliban have cracked down hard on women who oppose them.

Natkai says she kept studying even though there was little chance of her ever attending university in her homeland. Then she was granted a scholarship to study at the University of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Emirati billionaire businessman Sheikh Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor.

The scholarships for Afghan women were announced in December 2022 after the Taliban banned women from universities.

The BBC understands a total of 100 Afghan women have been successful in gaining these scholarships. Some Afghan students living abroad have already travelled to Dubai.

On Wednesday 23 August, Natkai said goodbye to her family and set off for the airport. But her hopes were soon dashed. “When the Taliban officials saw our tickets and student visas, they said girls are not allowed to leave Afghanistan on student visas,” she said while her voice breaking.

This morning, in the presence of Dr. Essa Al Bastaki @ebastaki and the management team at Al Habtoor Group, I met three Afghan female students who made it to #Dubai safely, They are among those who received the comprehensive scholarship that I provided them with in collaboration… pic.twitter.com/PlDaNlbDlO

— Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor (@KhalafAlHabtoor) August 24, 2023

Natkai is one of at least 60 girls who were turned away from the airport. Photos seen by the BBC show young girls wearing black hijabs or headscarves standing next to their luggage in a state of shock and devastation.

The Taliban have banned solo travel for women and only allow them to go abroad with their husbands or a related male companion such as a brother, uncle or father, known as a mahram, a male escort.

But even this was not enough. “Three girls who had a mahram were inside the plane,” says Natkai. “But officials from the Vice and Virtue ministry took them off the plane.”

The rest of the students were too frightened to talk to the media.

A young man we’re calling Shams Ahmad, accompanied his sister to the airport and described the distress. “The scholarship gave new hope to my sister after the universities were closed here. She left home with hope and returned in tears,” he says. “All her rights have been taken away.”

Mr Ahmad says some of the women even borrowed money to pay for a visa for a male companion to accompany them but were still stopped. “Some of these girls are so helpless and poor. They don’t even have 400 Afghanis (£4; $5) for the document verification fee requested by the foreign affairs ministry.”

The University of Dubai and Mr Al Habtoor have confirmed the girls were stopped. Mr Al Habtoor posted a video message in English on X, formerly known as Twitter. In it, he criticised the Taliban authorities, saying men and women are equal under Islam.

The video also contained a voice note in English from an Afghan girl who was stopped at the airport. “We are right now in the airport but unfortunately, the government is not allowing us to go to Dubai,” she says. “Even they don’t allow those who have a mahram. I don’t know what to do. Please help us.”

When the Taliban banned women from studying at universities, the UAE launched a student scholarship program in December 2022 so Afghan women could study in Dubai.

About 100 women have received scholarships. But when they showed up at the Kabul airport with their student visas, the Taliban banned them from travelling.

Rights groups slam 'cruel' Taliban ban on women in national park

Rights monitors condemned on Monday a ban on women visiting one of Afghanistan's most popular national parks, the latest curb shutting women out of public life under Taliban government rule.

The Taliban government's morality ministry closed the Band-e-Amir national park to women at the weekend, claiming female visitors were failing to cover up with proper Islamic dress.

The park, 175 kilometres (110 miles) west of Kabul, is renowned for its striking blue lakes surrounded by sweeping cliffs.

The Bamyan province park is a hugely popular spot for domestic tourism and is regularly swarmed with Afghans relaxing at the shore or paddling the waters in rented boats.

Human Rights Watch's Associate Women's Rights Director Heather Barr told AFP the decision to ban women was "cruel in a very intentional way".

"Not content with depriving girls and women of education, employment and free movement, the Taliban also want to take from them parks and sport and now even nature," she said in a separate statement.

"Step-by-step the walls are closing in on women as every home becomes a prison," she said.

The Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi justified the ban on Saturday on the grounds women were failing to wear hijabs properly.

"We must take action from today. We must prevent the non-observance of hijab," he said during a visit to Bamyan province.

Ministry spokesman Akef Muhajir told AFP local religious leaders requested the temporary closure because women from outside the province were not observing the hijab dress code.

Other national parks in Afghanistan remain open to all, he said.

Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of laws the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid".

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett asked on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday "why this restriction... is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture?"

Women and girls have been banned from attending high school and university as well as barred from visiting parks, fairs and gyms in the years since the Taliban authorities returned to power.

They have also mostly been blocked from working for UN agencies or NGOs, with thousands sacked from government jobs or paid to stay at home.

The announcement of the ban on visiting Band-e-Amir elicited posts from women on social media with pictures of trips to the park and expressing hopes they will return one day.

 

With inputs from AFP.