US imposes visa restrictions on Taliban over crackdown on women

2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions against members and former members of the Taliban government for the repression of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Secretary of the US Department of State, Antony Blinken, has reported that he has “taken steps to impose additional visa restrictions on certain current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups and others responsible for repression against women “.

Blinken has referred to the Taliban’s measures that prohibit women’s access to universities, as well as the ban on the work of NGOs as limiting women’s participation in Afghan society and economies.

“Through these decisions, the Taliban have once again shown their contempt for the well-being of the Afghan people,” said the Secretary of State, according to a statement from his cabinet.

Thus, he has remarked that “the actions of the Taliban have forced more than a million Afghan girls and young women of school age to leave the classroom, in addition to multitudes of women out of universities and countless Afghan women out of the labor force. “.

“These numbers will only grow as time goes by, worsening the already serious economic and humanitarian crises in the country,” he lamented, while condemning “in the strongest terms the actions of the Taliban.”

For this reason, he has reiterated the US support for the Afghan people, pledging “to do everything possible to promote respect for Human Rights and fundamental freedoms for all Afghans.”

“Quality, safe and inclusive education for women and girls and participation in the labor force are essential for growing and strengthening economies, reducing inequality and fostering stability,” Blinken stressed. .