Western countries still reluctant to impose sanctions on the Taliban
Berlin - In a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the USA, EU, Germany, Great Britain, France and other countries published on Thursday, the general demand that the ban on women's work be lifted again. "Without their involvement in relief efforts in Afghanistan, NGOs will no longer be able to reach the most vulnerable people in the country to provide food, medicine, winter relief and other essential goods and services," it said it in the explanation. "This would also affect humanitarian aid provided by international organizations, as international organizations use NGOs to provide such goods and services."
The Taliban thus again revealed their contempt for the rights, freedoms and well-being of the Afghan people, especially women and girls, as well as their disinterest in normal relations with the world community. The Taliban must "immediately reverse" their decision. And further: "This would avoid impairments and allow the continuation of all humanitarian operations of national and international NGOs."
Even over the Christmas holidays, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had called for concrete consequences from the newly extended ban on women working. "We will not accept that the Taliban are making humanitarian aid a pawn in their misogyny," Baerbock wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "We are committed to a strong response from the international community," said Baerbock.
What this reaction could look like remains an open question.
Source: Der Newsticker
Photo: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images.
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