Taliban Suspend Swedish Activities in Afghanistan Over Quran

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 11, 2023

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The Taliban Tuesday ordered the suspension of all Swedish activities in Afghanistan because of the public burning of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, at a protest in Sweden last month.

The June 28 authorized protest saw an Iraqi national resident in Stockholm tear and burn a copy of the Quran outside the capital’s largest mosque as Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha worldwide. The incident sparked outrage and condemnation in Islamic countries.

“The Islamic Emirate suspends Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan for granting permission to insult the Quran and the Muslim faith,” the Taliban said, using the official name for their government in Kabul.

According to the statement, the order will remain effective “until they (Sweden) apologize to the Muslims for this heinous act.” The Taliban called on other Islamic nations to “reconsider” their relations with the Swedish government over its “blasphemous” act.

The Quran burning incident in Sweden saw immediate reaction from the Middle East and North Africa, with governments strongly condemning the act. Morocco recalled its ambassador from Stockholm.

A crowd of angry protesters in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad quickly assembled at the Swedish embassy and stormed its compound before being dispersed by security forces. Tens of thousands of people staged protest rallies across Pakistan last Friday.

Like other Western countries, Sweden closed its embassy in Afghanistan and evacuated all its staff, including Swedish and Afghan citizens, in August 2021, when the then-insurgent Taliban regained control of the country.

Aid workers said Tuesday’s Taliban order would likely disrupt the humanitarian operations of the non-governmental Swedish Committee for Afghanistan in the impoverished war-ravaged country.

The charity group manages development programs, including health care and education, in 19 Afghan provinces, employing around 6,000 people, mostly Afghans. It provides education to nearly 90,000 children and health care to two million people through its hospitals and medical centers in Afghanistan.

The SCA did not immediately comment on the possible suspension of its activities by the Taliban.

Humanitarian operations in Afghanistan have already been under severe pressure after the Taliban banned the United Nations and other non-government organizations from hiring Afghan female workers. The Taliban have also barred girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade and ordered most female government employees to stay home since seizing power nearly two years ago.

The restrictions on women’s freedom to access education and work and a decline in donor funding have prompted the U.N. to cut its annual humanitarian aid plan for Afghanistan by more than $1 billion, forcing aid agencies to stop giving critical assistance to millions of people across the country.

US aid policies undermined success of Afghanistan mission, says watchdog chief

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John Sopko

The Guardian (UK): Poor oversight, lack of understanding and weak collaboration between allies contributed to ease of Taliban takeover, conclude US and UK aid bodies at London conference – America’s huge, badly-coordinated and politically-driven aid programme in Afghanistan engendered the corruption that undermined its entire mission and turned Afghans away from the western coalition, according to the head of a US aid watchdog. “We did not really understand Afghanistan or how it worked as a country,” John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar), told a conference at the defence and security thinktank the Royal United Services Institute. “We sent so much money so quickly into so poor a country with so little oversight we were actually giving more money than the gross domestic product of Afghanistan for so many years,” Sopko said. Click here to read more (external link).

Delayed Aid Leaves Panjshir Province Residents Struggling: Over 500 Children Afflicted by Malnutrition

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8am: The Directorate of Public Health in Panjshir has reported a rise in cases of malnourished children in the province. In the past two months alone, over 500 children have been affected by malnutrition, according to the Directorate. Some residents of Panjshir attribute this high number of malnourished children to factors such as poverty, inadequate food supplies, and lack of proper nutrition. They believe that the delayed arrival of relief aid from humanitarian organizations in remote areas of the province has contributed to the spread of this disease.  In late March 2023, local sources in Panjshir province accused the Taliban of obstructing the delivery of aid by humanitarian organizations to conflict-affected areas. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Figure Anas Haqqani endorses Twitter over Threads

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Anas Haqqani

Ariana: Amid the ongoing debate over ‘Twitter vs Threads’, Anas Haqqani, a prominent figure of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) [Taliban], has expressed support for Twitter citing its ‘freedom of speech’ policy and ‘public nature’ as advantages. Haqqani said on Twitter that the platform has two advantages over other social media platforms, asserting that other platforms cannot replace it. “The first privilege is the freedom of speech. The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter,” Haqqani said. “Twitter doesn’t have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it.” Click here to read more (external link).

US Says It’s Working to Hold Afghan Taliban to Anti-Terror Pledges

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 10, 2023

ISLAMABAD — A senior U.S. official says the Biden administration is “working tirelessly every day” to ensure the Taliban stick to their pledges to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for transnational terrorists.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the matter with reporters aboard Air Force One when asked by VOA if Washington is working with the Taliban to hunt down terrorist targets on Afghan soil. Sullivan traveled to London, where President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“What I could say is that we are holding the Taliban to their commitments under the Doha agreement, which is that Afghanistan cannot be used as a safe haven to plot terrorist attacks against anyone and especially, from our purposes, against the United States of America, our homeland, our allies, and our partners,” Sullivan said.

He referred to the February 2020 deal the Trump administration negotiated with the then-insurgent Taliban in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The deal paved the way for all U.S.-led NATO troops to depart Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 after two decades of involvement in the war. The insurgents, in turn, pledged they would not allow terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, to threaten other countries from Afghan soil.

Sullivan spoke days after President Joe Biden defended the chaotic troop withdrawal and suggested that the Taliban are helping Washington to push out al-Qaida from the war-torn South Asian country.

“We are working tirelessly every day to ensure that that set of commitments is fulfilled,” Sullivan said. “And beyond that, I won’t say anything further,” he added.

The Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan just days before the last group of U.S. soldiers left the country.

While the U.S. and the Taliban have declined to acknowledge publicly any counterterrorism cooperation, regional diplomatic and Taliban sources say the two former adversaries are working together to deal with the threat of terrorism.

The reported collaboration stemmed from a meeting between top Biden administration and Taliban officials in Doha last October.

The CIA deputy director, David Cohen, and the Taliban spy chief, Abdul Haq Wasiq, also attended the talks, underscoring the emphasis on counterterrorism. Both sides confirmed the meeting but would not say whether Cohen and Wasiq, who heads the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence or GDI, participated in the talks.

The meeting came several months after the United States announced its drone missiles killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in his hiding place in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Washington said the terror mastermind lived in the safehouse as a Taliban guest and accused the de facto Taliban authorities of violating the Doha agreement.

Taliban authorities have maintained they were unaware of al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul, and the incident was under investigation.

Wasiq has established an exclusive cell in the GDI for counterterrorism collaboration with U.S. authorities and oversees its work, VOA learned through reliable sources.

VOA contacted chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid for comments on whether Kabul and Washington are jointly working to combat terrorism but did not receive a response immediately.

Regional sources also attribute the Taliban’s recent successes against Islamic State-Khorasan, the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist network, to their counterterrorism collaboration with the U.S.

The United States has denied working with the Taliban on operations against Islamic State-Khorasan. U.S. military officials have publicly doubted the Taliban’s ability to go after high-value IS-K targets.

The Taliban, however, maintain they are conducting operations against IS-K on their own, saying the group is a threat to Afghanistan and regional stability.

VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this story.

Related

The Plight of Women Under the Taliban Rule: Women and Girls Driven to Street Labor

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8am: In Afghanistan, women who lost their jobs due to Taliban restrictions are compelled to engage in street work due to prolonged unemployment and the group’s limitations. Some of these women and girls, who are also protesting, have set up roadside scales to weigh people. They stress that the lack of job opportunities and Taliban restrictions have eliminated their employment prospects, forcing them to rely on street scales and call out for customers throughout the day to earn a meager income for their families. Previously raising their voices for rights, they now raise them to attract customers and make five Afghanis. These women and girls affirm that the Taliban don’t object to women working on the streets but impose restrictions on professional and vocational work. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Over 20 Afghan Refugees Rescued From Human Traffickers in Peru

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Khaama: Peruvian authorities have announced they rescued at least 23 Afghan refugees from human traffickers along the border with Brazil. A prosecutors’ office in Peru on Sunday, July 9, in a statement said, “These migrants were trying to reach Ecuador, Mexico and eventually reach to the United States.” These Afghan refugees must have given huge sums of money to smugglers to reach northern borders, the statement said. Click here to read more (external link).

The Lucky Few: Pakistani Citizenship Still Very Elusive For Most Afghan Refugees

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Abubakar Siddique
Azmat Ali Shah
July 9, 2023

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan is the only country Gul Mohammad, a 42-year-old Afghan refugee, knows.

He was born in a refugee camp in the teeming, sizzling northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Eighteen years ago, he married a Pakistani woman, hoping to settle down in the city he calls home. Yet the father of four has not yet been able to get Pakistani citizenship even though the country’s laws allow him to obtain nationality because of his spouse.

“I don’t want to go back to Afghanistan because my children will have no future there,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal about his war-ravaged homeland.

But living in Pakistan is anything but easy.

His wife is now finding it difficult to renew her government identity card because her husband — as the recognized head of the household — does not have a Pakistani national identity card, which serves as proof of citizenship and is required for government services and to make business transactions.

“When I try to enroll my children into the public schools, they are asked for their father’s national ID card,” he said, adding that his children were being deprived of their education. “I now visit government offices to get my Pakistani ID card, but they turn me away.”

But Mohammad now sees a glimmer of hope.

The Peshawar High Court, the top court in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, granted citizenship rights on June 17 to four Afghan men who are married to Pakistani women. “They will now have all [citizenship] rights like other Pakistanis,” said Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel, a lawyer who won the cases. But he added that the four men would still be unable to get Pakistani passports.

Nauman Kakakhel, another lawyer in Peshawar, said the courts had granted citizenship to some 300 of his plaintiffs, most of whom are Afghan men married to Pakistanis.

“Terrorism and other similar policy matters and certain policies prevent the government from granting citizenship to [eligible] Afghans,” he told Radio Mashaal. “But we have now filed their cases before the courts, which are now ordering the government to give them citizenship.”

Afghan refugees and human rights campaigners consider the recent granting of citizenship to a few hundred Afghan men a welcome step. But most Afghans born in Pakistan or living there for decades still have no path to Pakistani citizenship.

Islamabad is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 protocol intended to remove constraints on who can be considered a refugee.

But it has hosted one of the largest refugee populations in recent history. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, currently estimates that 1.4 million documented Afghan refugees live in Pakistan. It is estimated that an equal number of Afghans remain undocumented.

Since the communist coup in Afghanistan in April 1978 and the subsequent Soviet invasion in December 1979, millions of Afghans have fled to Pakistan to seek shelter from the various cycles of war and extremist governments that have taken power.

The treatment of Afghan refugees in the country is a major human rights issue often reflected in the headlines, with arbitrary arrests, security sweeps, mistreatment, and harassment.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a leading rights watchdog, welcomed the Peshawar court decision granting the Afghan husbands of Pakistani women citizenship rights. The HRCP said the move was in line with Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes citizenship as a fundamental right.

“It will go some way towards easing the hurdles that refugees face, including harassment by law enforcement agencies and lack of access to health care, education, and decent livelihoods,” said Zohra Yusuf, an HRCP council member.

The HRCP wants Islamabad to accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol and adopt national legislation to fulfill the obligations outlined in these international agreements.

“The state should ease cumbersome documentation requirements, provide more dignified living situations, and make every effort to provide a safer, more inclusive environment,” Yusuf said.

But officials in Islamabad see the issue very differently.

As the chief commissioner for Afghan refugees in Pakistan’s States and Frontier Regions Ministry, Muhammad Abbas Khan oversees all aspects of Afghan exiles in Pakistan. In written comments to RFE/RL, he argued that Islamabad cannot grant citizenship to Afghans born in Pakistan because it will open the door to many among the more than 4.3 million Afghans who have already returned to their country from Pakistani during the past four decades.

“Such facility could be exploited and would open yet another floodgate for large numbers of individuals, claiming their birth in Pakistan on forged documents,” Khan said. “Thus leading to a complex, uncontrollable, and unmanageable situation.”

Most Afghan refugees in Pakistan are ethnic Pashtuns, who are the second-largest ethnic group in the country of some 231 million people. In some regions their presence has become part of the local ethnic competition for power and resources.

“The majority of the newborn Afghans are of Pashtun ethnicity, which, if included in the Pakistani population, may change the delicate demographic balance in the sensitive province of Balochistan,” he said of the long-running political wrangling over the presence of Afghan refugees in the vast region in the southwest that borders Iran and Afghanistan.

The 2017 census in Pakistan showed that Balochistan’s Baloch population had shrunk from 61 percent to 55 percent compared to 1998.

The Pashtun population, on the other hand, had increased. In the ensuing years, Islamabad canceled the citizenship of 200,000 people, alleging that Afghan refugees had illegally obtained Pakistani IDs.

The treatment of Afghan refugees remains a pressing concern for human rights watchdogs.

Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for South Asia, says that the Afghan refugees’ ambiguous legal status in Pakistan and arduous asylum or third-country relocation processes have made them even more vulnerable.

“They are caught in an impossible situation from which there is no escape,” she said.

Written by Abubakar Siddique in Prague based on reporting by Azmat Ali Shah in Pakistan

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.