US May Deport Afghan Asylum-Seeker Amid Heightened Scrutiny

The group warned that the systematic exclusion of Afghan women from public life is a stark example of entrenched gender-based oppression.

In a report released this week, the coalition comprising several international organisations said attacks on educational facilities are rising globally, with women and girls disproportionately affected. It noted that an estimated 600 million women and girls live in or near areas affected by armed conflict

GCPEA said deliberate attacks on schools and universities aimed at preventing women’s access to education, the military use of educational facilities, and threats along routes to classrooms remain major obstacles for women and girls.

The report highlighted the long-term consequences of insecurity in educational settings, stating that more than half of girls in crisis-affected areas are out of school, and adolescent girls in conflict zones are 90 percent more likely to be out of school than those in peaceful countries.

“When girls are denied education, entire societies are set back,” GCPEA said, adding that the effects include increased child marriage, early pregnancy, economic exclusion and intergenerational poverty. Communities, it said, lose future teachers, doctors and leaders.

The coalition stressed that safe access to education acts as a “force multiplier” for health, stability and peace.

GCPEA said authoritarian governments and armed groups in several regions use intimidation and violence to deny women and girls access to education. It cited the Taliban as a clear example, saying: “Nowhere is this more evident than in Afghanistan, where the systematic exclusion of women and girls from education and public life has become a defining example of institutionalised gender-based oppression.”

However, the report also notes that overall migrant-related crime fell by more than 3 per cent in 2024.

According to Die Welt, part of the decline is attributed to Germany’s legalisation of cannabis. Still, police data show that, relative to their population size, newly arrived migrants remain significantly overrepresented in several crime categories compared with German nationals.

The report states that for violent crime, police registered 163 cases per 100,000 Germans, compared with 1,740 per 100,000 Syrians and 1,722 per 100,000 Afghans.

Of the 3.1 million criminal cases recorded nationwide, 331,308, around 11 per cent, involved at least one suspect classified as a newly arrived migrant. This category covers individuals with unclear residency status and does not include asylum seekers with regular residency, Germans with migration backgrounds, skilled workers, or international students.

The report also found that Afghan and Syrian suspects were overrepresented in cases of sexual offences and drug-related crimes compared with their share of the migrant population. Ukrainian nationals, by contrast, were underrepresented relative to their proportion of new arrivals.

Die Welt reported that Germany’s Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, said migrants who work and obey the law have a right to stay, but those who pose security threats do not. He said Germany would continue efforts to return such individuals to countries including Afghanistan and Syria.

Germany hosts one of the largest Afghan and Syrian refugee populations in Europe.

Muttaqi said the Taliban seek “positive relations based on diplomacy and understanding” with neighbouring and regional countries, according to a statement issued by the Taliban Foreign Ministry. He also welcomed what he described as a significant expansion of political and economic ties with Kazakhstan.

The Taliban said Tukumov underscored the importance of continued cooperation with the authorities in Kabul across various sectors. He reportedly told Muttaqi that regional stability is a shared responsibility and can be achieved through trust-building, improved security and economic collaboration.

Kazakhstan has not recognised the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, but in recent years has maintained limited and conditional engagement. In June 2024, it removed the Taliban from its national list of terrorist organisations. Several months earlier, Kazakhstan accepted a Taliban-appointed diplomat as Afghanistan’s consul general in Astana.

He stressed that Pakistan is a peace-loving country but will not compromise on national security or territorial integrity.

Munir, speaking on Monday during a meeting with military personnel in Rawalpindi, accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting militants active inside Pakistan. He has previously claimed that the Taliban back groups supported by India. Pakistan designates the TTP as a terrorist organisation and alleges it receives Indian support.

His remarks come as tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban have reached their lowest point in four years. Deadly border clashes in recent weeks and multiple rounds of negotiations have failed to produce results.

On Friday, Munir was appointed Pakistan’s first Chief of Defence Staff while retaining his position as army chief. President Asif Ali Zardari appointed him to the new role following constitutional reforms. Munir will serve a five-year term.

Under the military restructuring introduced by the 27th constitutional amendment and revisions to Article 243, operational, administrative and strategic powers have been consolidated into a single office. The amended article states that the president appoints the army chief in consultation with the prime minister, and that this person also serves as Chief of Defence.

The 2024 reforms also extended the service tenure of the heads of Pakistan’s three armed forces from three to five years, with the possibility of renewal or a further extension. Under Amendment 27, the army chief may be reappointed or have his term extended for an additional five years with the agreement of the president and prime minister, a provision that could keep Munir in office until 2035.

Azizi said the Taliban was fully prepared to cooperate with Chinese companies and facilitate their activities.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Taliban Ministry of Commerce said the two sides also reviewed ways to strengthen economic ties.

According to the statement, the meeting is expected to help pave the way for expanding trade and deepening economic cooperation between Afghanistan and China.