Afghan women officials and diplomats seek asylum as the Taliban targets their jobs

Name: Taliban commander says women and men ‘cannot work together’, prompting UN rights fears
Uploaded: 2021-09-19T11:00:27.000Z
Duration: 2 min 20 s
Description: Taliban commander says women and men ‘cannot work together’, prompting UN rights fears

Many workers of the previous government have sought asylum since the Taliban seized power, with women saying they face the risk of double persecution

Taliban has issued a decree asking women in senior government posts to resign, and installed a Ministry for Preaching and Guidance and the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice

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Afghan women hold a protest in New Delhi on September 16, 2021. Photo: AP

Sonia Sarkar

Published: 7:00pm, 19 Sep 2021Updated: 7:12pm, 19 Sep 2021

Last week, when the newly appointed Taliban foreign minister called the ministry staffers for a briefing, a female desk officer hoped she would be able to retain her job and return to work.

The desk officer, who did not want to be named, had served in the previous Afghanistan government for three years and was expecting to be posted overseas this year. But the Taliban takeover left her and other women colleagues worrying about the future of their careers.

On Thursday, all hopes were dashed after the Taliban decree circulated on social media stating all women occupying senior posts in government offices to resign.

“My next promotion – which was supposed to be a posting at an Afghanistan embassy abroad – was due this month,” the Kabul-based desk officer told This Week In Asia.

“But I don’t see that coming my way any more, because the Taliban don’t want women to pursue their careers. My education and professional experience will be wasted, if I remain alive under Taliban rule at all.”

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Taliban commander says women and men ‘cannot work together’, prompting UN rights fears

While the Taliban claimed it would offer amnesty to everyone who had worked with the previous Afghan regime, many female politicians, government officials and diplomats have sought asylum in places including the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy and Austria.