(ANALYSIS) On Oct. 4, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that gender and nationality alone are sufficient for a country to grant asylum to Afghan women. The case concerned Afghan women who were seeking international protection in Austria, and their asylum applications were rejected in 2015 and 2020.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Sept. 23, 2024, when speaking at a side event on “The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan” at the U.N. General Assembly, Oscar-winning actress and activist Meryl Streep addressed the dire situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. As she noted, “Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreA new Taliban law restricting the rights of women even further has led to calls for prayer from Arabic church leaders as well as Afghans who have fled in recent years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Aug. 21, 2024, the Taliban published its new law to “promote virtue and eliminate vice” that sets up rules for everyday life and adds to the litany of restrictions on women. Over the last three years, the Taliban introduced tens and tens of decrees barring women and girls from all activities and engagements outside their homes.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The legacy of the Taliban regime — which meant to be a new Taliban 2.0 but failed on all fronts — is gender apartheid, genocide and gross human rights violations. The three years of their reign, since the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, have been filled with report after report documenting the litany of atrocities perpetrated in the country.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In June 2024, in the build-up to the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, published his report on “The phenomenon of an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) As the UPR was looking into the situation in Afghanistan, atrocity crimes continued. On the same day as the U.N. review, a gunman stormed a mosque in Andisheh town of Guzara district in Herat province, western Afghanistan. Six people were killed in the attack. The mosque is said to have belonged to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community.
Read More(ANALYSIS) An inquiry was convened to respond to the ever-growing marginalization of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, which closely resembles segregation. Women and girls in those countries are treated as second-class citizens, deprived of their freedoms and forced to adhere to strict dress codes under the threat of severe punishments.
Read MoreThe chaos at the end of a long war. The frenzy to leave a troubled homeland. The challenge of a new and different culture. Hong Kluver identifies closely with the Afghan refugees she has worked so hard to help. In their experiences, she sees herself.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Aug. 15, 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and took control of the country. Subsequent months have seen severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, religious minorities and much more.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the winners of the Religion News Association’s 2022 Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreGlenn Beck, the conservative LDS Church media star, helped raise $35 million for his two charities, Mercury One and the Nazarene Fund, to pay for evacuations of Afghans amid the U.S. withdrawal of troops. The organizations are claiming they evacuated 12,000 people but have provided few details about how the money has been spent.
Read More(OPINION) Since the Taliban assumed control in Afghanistan, it has slipped more deeply into a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by a tanking economy, skyrocketing poverty and widespread unemployment. The Taliban’s ideology and system of government solidifies their view that non-Muslims are disloyal enemies and infidels, which the Taliban use to justify killing and violence.
Read More(OPINION) President Biden’s refusal to pursue a calculated diplomatic and military procedure for the U.S. departure inspired the Taliban’s terrorist leaders, who immediately seized lethal power over Afghanistan’s hapless, hopeless population. Today, Afghanistan is the world’s No. 1 worst persecutor of Christians.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A scholar visited Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to document the lives and stories of everyday Afghans. What he found is that the Taliban have less authority on the ground than they project to the media, fostering uncertainty about the government’s stability and longevity.
Read MoreThe U.S. State Department is investigating claims that Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a refugee resettlement agency in the Washington, D.C., region, has mistreated Afghan refugees.
Read MoreA Virginia church collaborated with a grassroots volunteer organization known as NoVa RAFT, which stands for Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together. That group has helped set up nearly 200 Afghan refugee homes with furniture, beds, kitchenware, linens and other household items.
Read More(OPINION) The persecution and discrimination of the Hazaras group in Afghanistan continue, violently and deadly. This year, unlike other attacks, the international community has shown little interest in holding the perpetrators accountable and providing protection for the victims.
Read MoreAbdul Manan Shiway e-Sharq, the former deputy minister for information and publications of Afghanistan, has relocated to Germany and is continuing his campaign to safeguard his country’s multicultural heritage — and repatriate looted antiquities.
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