COVID-19 | Taliban take in pregnant New Zealander unable to return home

(Wellington) A pregnant New Zealand journalist said on Sunday that she was taken in by the Taliban in Afghanistan after being unable to return to her country to give birth due to draconian anti-COVID-19 regulations.

“I felt betrayed” by New Zealand, said Charlotte Bellis, during an interview with Radio New Zealand from Kabul.

In an open letter published by the New Zealand Herald, Mr.^me Bellis explained that she worked for the Al-Jazeera channel in Afghanistan. On returning to Doha, where the headquarters of this media is located, she realized that she was expecting a child.

As it is illegal in Qatar to be pregnant outside of marriage, she kept her pregnancy a secret while planning her return to New Zealand

However, this country, which closed its borders in March 2020 due to the pandemic, is only allowing its own nationals to return in dribs and drabs.

When the journalist learned that she could not benefit from any derogation to return, M^me Bellis called senior Taliban officials. The latter then offered her to come and give birth in their country, where her spouse, a Belgian photographer, is based.

“We are happy for you, you can come and you will have no problem,” the Taliban assured her, she said in an interview.

They added “don’t worry. Everything will be fine,” she told the New Zealand Herald.

“When I was in need, the New Zealand government told me I was not welcome,” the journalist lamented.

“When the Taliban offer – to a single, pregnant woman – asylum, you know you are in a difficult situation.”

M^me Bellis, who had previously asked the Taliban what they would do to secure the rights of women and girls, said it was “ironic” that she was now asking the same question of her own government.

After going public about the problems she was encountering and calling on lawyers, Ms.^me Bellis was contacted by New Zealand authorities who told her her rejected claim would be reconsidered.

Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s COVID-19 Minister, said in a statement that he had asked officials to check whether all procedures had been followed correctly in Ms.^me Bellis, “which seemed at first sight to deserve further explanation”.