MONITORING (SW) – Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, has called for lifting the ban on women in Afghanistan travelling without a male companion.
She made the remarks during a visit with Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to Kabul. “1) Push Taliban to lift ban on women leaving country alone; 2) Push Taliban to lift all restrictions on people leaving Afg, make passport offices function fairly, return confiscated passports; & 3) Remind all countries of Afghans’ right to seek asylum”, she tweeted.
Associate women’s rights director, and former senior Afghanistan researcher, at Human Rights Watch also called for the lifting of all restrictions on those leaving Afghanistan. At the same time, she stressed that the activities of the passport offices should be fair and that these offices should return the confiscated passports.
Earlier, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate and deputy director of publications for the Ministry of Information and Culture, told a news conference in Kabul that those who do not have a ‘valid excuse’ would not be allowed to travel abroad.
Mujahid had emphasized that ‘Maharram’ (male companion) was necessary for women planning to travel from Afghanistan. Asked if girls could go on scholarships without a ‘Maharram’, he replied that the presence of a ‘Maharram’ on trips abroad was based on “Sharia rule” for women.
Following domestic and international reactions to these remarks, Mujahid tweeted that the purpose of his remarks about Afghans leaving the country was that it was forbidden to go without legal documents, illegally and in a smuggling manner that endangered the citizens.
Afghan citizens with legal documents or proper invitations can travel abroad and return safely, he clarified.
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