BERLIN: Foreign Minister of Germany Annalena Baerbock has vowed to stand by the women and girls of Afghanistan, and by all people who are threatened by the Taliban.
Baerbock in a statement issued on the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan three years ago on Thursday said Germany supports the people of Afghanistan by providing emergency humanitarian assistance in the form of food aid and basic healthcare.
“Three years ago today, the lives of everyone in Afghanistan, and above all the women and girls, were turned upside down. Since the seizure of power by the Taliban, with their radical Islamist worldview, the women of Afghanistan have been subjected to the most severe systematic human rights violations worldwide,” she said.
The diplomat said every day for the past three years, the inhumane Taliban regime has destroyed the hopes of millions of Afghan women and girls for a better life and freedom.
She added that half of the population of Afghanistan is no longer allowed to do things that are part of any normal life. “They can’t work, they can’t enter a hospital or restaurant alone, they’re not allowed to sing, to show their face on the street, to go to school once they reach their teens, to be women. Life for many women and girls in Afghanistan is like life under house arrest,” she said.
The foreign minister said the German government facilitates projects to protect human rights in Afghanistan. She noted that more than 34,000 people who were persecuted by the Taliban have come to Germany under various programmes and have found safety, protection and prospects for a future without persecution.
Annalena Baerbock said last year, the EU, including Germany imposed sanctions on key Taliban figures in response to gender-based violence. “We will not slacken our efforts. Together with our international partners, we are also continuing our advocacy in the UN Human Rights Council to shed light on the darkness in Afghanistan,” the top German diplomat said in the statement.
She said almost all countries in the world agree that as long as the Taliban fail to comply with Afghanistan’s international obligations, it cannot be welcomed back into the international community.
