(Kabul) Hundreds of young women were prevented on Wednesday by armed guards from entering university campuses in Afghanistan, the day after the authorities decided to ban higher education from now on for young women, already deprived of secondary education. .
Since the accession to power of Islamic fundamentalists, women have seen their freedom increasingly restricted despite international condemnations.
AFP journalists saw a group of students gathered outside the closed gates of the university entrance in Kabul, also blocked by armed guards, to prevent them from entering.
“We are doomed, we have lost everything,” said a student refusing to be identified. The men also shared the distress of the female students.
“It illustrates their illiteracy and their ignorance in Islam as well as the lack of respect for human rights,” said a student refusing on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, Taliban authorities announced that Afghan universities were now closed to girls in a letter sent to all government and private universities in the country.
Ministry spokesman Zibullah Hashimi, who tweeted the letter, also confirmed the indefinite measure to AFP.
No explanation has yet been provided to justify this decision.
Universities are closed due to winter holidays and are expected to reopen in March.
“Not only me, but all my friends are speechless. We have no words to express our feelings. Everyone is thinking about the unknown future that awaits them,” reacted Madina, a student on condition of anonymity.
“Hope has been taken away from us. They buried our dreams, ”commented the desperate student to AFP.
After the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021, universities were forced to adopt new rules, in particular to separate girls and boys during class hours.
The fairer sex was allowed to receive lessons, but only if they were taught by women or elderly men.
“Doomed Every Day”
The new ban comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women took university entrance exams across the country.
Many of them aspired to choose between careers in engineering or medicine, although deprived of access to secondary schools.
Upon their return to power after 20 years of war with the Americans and NATO forces, the Taliban had promised to be more flexible, but they returned to the ultra-rigorous interpretation of Islam that had marked their first passage to power (1996-2001).
For 16 months, liberticidal measures have multiplied, in particular against women who have been gradually excluded from public life and excluded from colleges and high schools.
“We are doomed, every day. While we hoped to progress, we are ostracized from society,” said Reha, another student, on Tuesday.
In an unexpected about-face, on March 23, the Taliban had closed secondary schools just hours after their long-announced reopening.
Various members of power had said that there were not enough teachers or money, but also that schools would reopen once an Islamic curriculum was developed.
“Barbaric” decision
As well as being deprived of education, women are also banned from most government jobs or paid a pittance to stay at home.
They are also prohibited from traveling without being accompanied by a male relative and must wear a burqa or hijab when leaving their homes.
In November, the Taliban also banned them from entering parks, gardens, sports halls and public baths.
Protests by women have become risky. Many protesters have been arrested and journalists are increasingly prevented from covering these rallies.
The international community has linked recognition of the Taliban regime and much-needed humanitarian and financial aid to Afghanistan with the Taliban’s respect for human rights, especially women’s rights to education and work.
The United States on Tuesday condemned in the “strongest terms” a “barbaric” decision that will have “significant consequences for the Taliban”, warned US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed”. “The denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but will have a devastating impact on the future of the country,” said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in a statement.
For its part, Pakistan said it was “disappointed” by its neighbor’s decision. Its foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, however, felt that the best approach “despite many setbacks in women’s education and other things, is through Kabul and the caretaker government”.