Afghans’ suffering ‘from bad to worse’, but the world is starting to look away: Türk

“Today, the suffering of many people in Afghanistan is getting worse,” stressed UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.

“Not yet, It seems that the world has forgotten and abandoned the Afghan people and the suffering is getting worse by the day,” he told reporters in Geneva. “The silence is deafening.”

Increasing oppression

Türk deplored the ongoing restrictions that have a detrimental impact on education, employment, freedom of movement and access to public life.

Notably, both women and men were captured by the Taliban Office for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Viceespecially for alleged violations of strict dress codes, growing beards, and playing, or listening to, music.

Human rights violations against former enemy Taliban during the long war following the allied invasion in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks on the US and restrictions on religious minorities – including the Shia and Ismaili communities – continue to be documented.

Censorship of the media, temporary media closures, and arrests of journalists also continue.

At least 449 men and women were subjected to corporal punishment by de facto authorities in the first half of this year, according to the UN.

‘Gender apartheid’

Women, in particular, face the brunt of Taliban rule.

Since 2021, more than two million Afghan girls and women are denied access to secondary and higher education.

New decrees issued by de facto authorities this year also make it harder for women to separate from their partners and implicitly permit child marriage and violence against women and children.

Women are also excluded from politics. Mr. Türk cursed “absolute absence of women in every public decision-making forum.”

A year ago, Taliban leaders banned Afghan women – including UN staff, contractors and visitors – from entering UN offices across the country.

“Restrictions imposed on women and girls – which constitute gender apartheid – have no place in any society,” That OHCHR the chairman underlined.

Forced return

At the same time, Afghans fleeing to neighboring countries face growing hostility from their hosts abroad, while forced repatriations continue.

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) more than 400,000 Afghans have been forcibly repatriated, mainly from Iran and Pakistan, but also from Turkey, Tajikistan and EU Member States.

“Many of them will be forced to enter a country they have never set foot in, and there they will face extreme poverty, lack of food, clean water, and access to health services, education, and employment,” Türk said.

He pointed to an estimated 21.9 million people, or about 45 percent of the population, who need humanitarian assistance, while foreign aid flows “[trickling] dry”.

“I ask all countries to reconsider their actions, and prioritize the lives of suffering people,” he stressed.