Over 17,000 Afghan Migrants Expelled From Iran & Pakistan, Says Taliban

In their statement released on Saturday, the movement emphasised that only genuine and robust support can foster hope for a future where Afghan women can live without fear and oppression.

The statement highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive and sustained international intervention, noting that 95% of Afghan women fear the Taliban.

UNAMA recently republished a survey from April showing that only 4% of women and 3% of men in Afghanistan support the recognition of the Taliban government. Additionally, 45% of female respondents believe that to improve the situation for women, the international community should facilitate direct dialogue between them and the Taliban.

The Purple Saturdays movement condemned the Taliban government as a direct and pervasive threat to Afghan women, stripping them of their rights, justice, and freedoms.

According to the movement, while the United Nations and the international community have expressed concern about the plight of Afghan women, their efforts to bring change have been largely ineffective.

Baerbock indirectly criticised the Chancellor and the Interior Minister of Germany for their promise to swiftly deport criminals from Afghanistan and Syria to their countries.

Following recent attacks by some Afghan migrants in Germany, several German politicians have called for their immediate deportation to Afghanistan and engagement with the Taliban.

A spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, German Chancellor’s party, has called for the reopening of the German embassy in Kabul and the dispatch of German diplomats to Afghanistan.

According to German media reports, the country’s officials have entered discussions with neighbouring countries like Uzbekistan and Pakistan to facilitate the deportation of criminals to Afghanistan.

The Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement requesting the German government not to send migrants to a third country and has expressed readiness for dialogue with Germany.

On Friday, the German Foreign Minister emphasised that they should not succumb to the conditions set by a terrorist Islamic group.

Speaking at an event in Hamburg, Baerbock expressed her belief that in times of insecurity, making promises about things without knowing how to implement them the next day cannot contribute to security.

Referring to the murder of a German police officer in Mannheim by an Afghan man, she said that such violent criminals have lost their right to protection, according to Die Welt newspaper.

However, she cautioned that it should not be assumed that the problem will be solved by quickly deporting them to Afghanistan or Syria.

Baerbock did not provide details on the Taliban's conditions for accepting deported migrants.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated on Wednesday that his promise to deport criminals from Afghanistan and Syria remains valid and will soon be implemented.

The Chancellor and the Interior Minister of Germany's federal coalition government are from the Social Democratic Party, while Baerbock is from the Greens Party.

The organisation has called on the Taliban to end the restrictions on the basic rights of women and girls.

Coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, Human Rights Watch wrote on X social media platform, "As the Paris Olympics begin, millions of women and girls in Afghanistan are being denied the right to education and sports."

The human rights organisation has urged the Taliban to end the mistreatment of Afghan women and girls and to lift the restrictions imposed on them.

Over the past three years, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women's work and activities. In addition to prohibiting girls from attending school above the sixth grade and preventing them from entering universities and educational centres, the group has also banned women's sports.

Earlier, the spokesperson for the Taliban-controlled Olympic Committee told Agence France-Presse that they do not recognise the three Afghan female athletes who are participating in the Paris Olympics.

Six Afghan athletes, three women and three men, are representing Afghanistan in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Additionally, five Afghan athletes are participating in the event as part of the International Olympic Committee's refugee team, bringing the total number of Afghan athletes at the Paris Olympics to eleven.

Two of the executed Afghan citizens have been identified as Gulab Shah Noorzeh and Matiullah Barakzai, while the identity of the third person remains unknown.

Gulab Shah Noorzeh and Matiullah Barakzai, both 40 years old, were executed on charges related to drug offences.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the identity of the third executed Afghan citizen in Iran is under investigation.

These executions, reported by HRANA, Hal Vash, and Kurdpa, indicate that Iran has executed at least 27 prisoners over the past six days (from Saturday to Thursday), averaging one execution every five hours.

Of the 27 prisoners executed in the prisons of Urmia, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Torbat-e Jam, Khorramabad, Shiraz, Qaen, Qazvin, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah, and Mashhad, four were women.

According to human rights organisations, more than 290 people have been hanged in various prisons in Iran since the beginning of this year.

Amnesty International, in its latest annual report on the death penalty worldwide, highlighted a significant increase in executions in Iran, reporting that nearly 75% of all recorded executions globally last year occurred in Iran.

The bill, known as the "Preventing the Recognition of Terrorist State Act," aims to prevent the recognition of the Taliban.

The Republican representative stated that freedom and justice demand rejecting tyranny and oppression in all its forms and that this bill will ensure the United States never recognises the terrorist regime of the Taliban.

Mace added, "By prohibiting any federal actions implying their legitimacy and designating them as state sponsors of terrorism, we stand firm against this rogue state’s barbarism.”

A statement released by Mace's office on Thursday indicates that, if enacted, the bill will prevent the recognition of the Taliban government.

The statement indicates that the bill will send a clear message to the Middle East that the US will never recognise a regime controlled by terrorists.

This is the first time such a bill has been introduced in the Congress to prevent the recognition of the Taliban.

According to Mace's statement, key provisions of the bill include prohibiting any US government entity from recognising the Taliban regime or allocating funding for that purpose.

The bill would also compel the US Department of State to designate the Taliban as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" and a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation”.