WASHINGTON: Confidence is waning among US officials that the Taliban will reverse course and allow women and girls in Afghanistan to receive education, or take action to improve the general human rights situation in the country, said US special envoy Reena. Amiri said. Afghan women, girls and human rights.
During a briefing on Thursday, attended by Arab News, he said Washington is working to identify key issues that are negatively impacting women and minority groups in the country.
“We are deeply disturbed by what we see as the continuing negative trajectory of the status of women and human rights in Afghanistan,” Amiri said.
He said the US is concerned about the increase in attacks on minority groups in the country, including the Hazara, Hindu and Sikh communities. A group affiliated with Daesh claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul, in which two people were killed and several were injured.
Amiri said US officials were looking for more ways to connect with the Afghan people and provide humanitarian aid, especially after a devastating earthquake struck mountainous regions in the country’s east early Wednesday this week. More than 1,000 people died and hundreds of homes and other buildings were destroyed.
The Taliban government, which has been under US sanctions since gaining control of the country following the withdrawal of US troops in August last year, has appealed for international aid to help deal with the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake. The United Nations has pledged its full support to efforts to help the victims and has mobilized its agencies to provide assistance.
Amiri said the US sanctions imposed on the Taliban government are designed and balanced in such a way that they do not affect women or other vulnerable groups in the country.
He said that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, he reneged on prior commitments to allow girls to go to school and receive education, and to respect the human rights of all people in Afghanistan.
She attributed most repressive measures directed against women to hardline elements within the ruling group, and said that most Afghans do not agree with the restrictions on women’s rights.
Amiri said the Taliban’s policies toward minorities were hindering America’s ability to help Afghanistan. Still, he said, Washington has pledged $127 million in humanitarian aid to the nation’s people.
She said she has toured Europe and the Gulf region to explore ways in which the US can help Afghan women and minority groups, among other countries, and called on the Taliban from all countries to address the plight of women in their country. Called to be held accountable.
“The situation in Afghanistan is one of the worst in the world when it comes to women’s rights,” Amiri said.