Taliban Rejects Tajik Leader’s Claim of Insurgents’ Presence

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Tajik President Emomali Rahmon

Tolo News: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon during a meeting of the security council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) held via videoconference on Monday said Tajikistan will establish a security belt along its border with Afghanistan to deter insurgents’ threats emanating from Afghan soil. He said that according to Tajikistan’s special services estimates, over 40 camps and centers for training terrorists with over 6,000 militants were located in northeastern Afghanistan, which poses security threats to CSTO countries. Click here to read more (external link).

Resistance Front Proposed Transitional Govt to Islamic Emirate

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Ismail Khan

Tolo News: A member of the negotiating team of the Resistance Front (RF) says they proposed the establishment of a transitional government in Afghanistan in their two-day meeting with officials of the Islamic Emirate hosted by Tehran. “Our proposal to them was clear and it was to form a transitional government. So, this government (transitional government) would work for the next government and the people would enjoy equal rights and freedom. In return, the Taliban’s proposal was surrender and the negotiations ended with no result,” the team member said. Click here to read more (external link).

U.S. Earmarks An Extra $308 Million In Aid To Afghanistan As UN Appeals For Urgent Assistance

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 11, 2022

The United States will donate an additional $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the White House announced on January 11, bringing the total U.S. aid for the war-wracked country to nearly $782 million since October.

The announcement came the same day as an appeal by the United Nations for $5 billion in aid for Afghanistan this year to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

The extra assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be distributed through independent humanitarian organizations and will provide shelter, health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services, White House spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement.

Horne also said Washington is giving 1 million additional coronavirus vaccine doses to Afghanistan, bringing the total to 4.3 million doses.

“The United States is committed to supporting the Afghan people and we continue to consider all options available to us. We stand with the people of Afghanistan,” Horne said.

Afghanistan’s economy has been in free fall since the Taliban seized power in August after toppling the former Western-backed government amid the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces from the country following a 20-year occupation.

The UN, in its largest-ever single-country appeal, said on January 11 that $4.4 billion was needed within Afghanistan, while a further $623 million was required to support the millions of Afghans sheltering beyond its borders.

“A full-blown humanitarian catastrophe looms. My message is urgent: Don’t shut the door on the people of Afghanistan,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.

According to the world body, up to 23 million people, or 55 percent of Afghanistan’s population — are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Taliban changes its fiscal from Gregorian calendar to Hijri Shamsi

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Mullah Hassan Akhund

Ariana: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) cabinet led by Mullah Mohammed Hasan Akhund, the prime minister of the caretaker government, on Monday approved a plan to change the start of the fiscal year from the West’s Gregorian calendar to the Hijri Shamsi, or Persian calendar. Based on the cabinet decision the new fiscal year will start at the beginning of the new solar year, in March. Under the previous government, the fiscal year started in January and ended in December. Now however, Afghanistan’s fiscal will start on 21 March each year. Click here to read more (external link).

Undocumented Afghan Refugees in Turkey Struggle to Access COVID Treatments, Vaccines

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Henry Ridgwell
VOA News
January 10, 2022

ERZURUM, TURKEY — Undocumented Afghan migrants who fled to Turkey to escape the Taliban say they are unable to get treatment and vaccines for the coronavirus.

While officially registered refugees qualify for health care in Turkey, it is believed that thousands of undocumented Afghan migrants are in the country.

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in August 2021 following the withdrawal of Western forces prompted thousands to flee to neighboring countries. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals had already left their home country for security reasons or to escape poverty.

VOA spoke to several refugees in the central Turkish city of Erzurum, which lies on a major route for migrants heading west to Europe and is a stopover for many refugees. Some settle and find work in the region.

According to the United Nations, Turkey is hosting around 183,000 Afghan asylum-seekers, while 300,000 Afghans are permanently settled there. However, unofficial estimates suggest thousands more Afghan migrants are undocumented, living and working in Turkey under the radar and unable to access basic services such as health care.

“I am from Badakhshan province in Afghanistan. I came to Turkey two months ago. I am 18 years old. We have no ID cards, so the hospitals don’t treat us,” Afghan migrant Muhammed told VOA.

Lack of ID card a concern

Muhammed works for a local dairy company in Erzurum along with several other Afghan migrants, including his friend Islam. They live in a small, run-down apartment in the city.

“There are eight or nine people living in this room. Five people have ID cards, and the rest don’t have ID cards,” Islam said. “If any of those who don’t have an ID card catches coronavirus, the hospitals don’t treat them. Those who have no ID card cannot have a vaccine. If they catch coronavirus, we all will catch coronavirus.”

Several Afghan migrants told VOA they chose not to register as official refugees, fearing arrest and deportation. Many said the status of Afghan refugees remains unclear, and they want clarification from the government.

Ramped up border security

In recent months, Turkey has ramped up border security and detained hundreds of Afghan migrants in deportation centers. It’s not clear if Ankara intends to deport the migrants back to Afghanistan. Some migrants report being detained for several weeks before being issued with official refugee status and set free.

The Turkish government did not respond to VOA questions on the number of undocumented Afghan migrants or on the lack of access to health care. Erzurum officials said any unregistered refugees would be arrested.

The United Nations said Turkey is hosting about 4 million refugees, 3.7 million of whom are Syrians fleeing conflict.

Refugees are a shared problem

In an email to VOA, Selin Unal, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey, said that other countries must help share the burden of caring for Afghan refugees.

“UNHCR is calling on neighboring countries to keep their borders open for those forced to flee and are now seeking protection. Since August, UNHCR has received increasing numbers of Afghans in neighboring countries who have approached our office and partners, indicating their intention to seek asylum. Others still in Afghanistan report hoping to reach neighboring countries to access international protection,” Unal said.

“Turkey has been hosting the largest refugee population in the world since 2014 and its comprehensive legal framework provides the necessary tools to address the needs of the various categories of Afghan citizens currently living on its territory and seeking its protection. This is a challenging time, effective access to registration remains crucial by Afghan nationals seeking international protection in Turkey and UNHCR is working with national authorities to support effective, fair and fast asylum procedures,” the email said.

The UNHCR did not provide an estimate for the number of undocumented Afghan refugees who are living in Turkey and unable to access health care.

Memet Aksakal contributed to this report.

Taliban Religious Police Erect Banners Ordering Women To Wear Islamic Hijab

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Afghan woman today, under Taliban rule

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
January 10, 2022

The Taliban’s religious police have erected banners in Kabul that order women to wear the Islamic hijab.

The posters show a woman wearing an all-encompassing burqa and a woman wearing the black chador that is commonly worn by in Iran. Text on the posters proclaims that “according to Shari’a law, a Muslim woman must observe the hijab.”

The Taliban-led government’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice says the posters were installed in Kabul to advise and encourage women to cover themselves in public.

Akef Mohajer, a spokesman for the ministry, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that despite the warnings on the posters, the obligatory rule for women to wear an Islamic veil will not be enforced.

Mohajer said the banners are “only an incentive for our sisters to be encouraged to wear the hijab.”

He also said the posters depict the burqa and the black veil because they are commonly seen in Afghanistan.

However, the installation of the posters has provoked an angry reaction from Afghan women.

Some say the black veil is not the culture of Afghanistan.

One woman who lives in Nangarhar Province told RFE/RL that Afghan women “cover our faces. We do not wear chadors and hijabs. This is not our custom.”

Amina Mayar, a resident of Wardak Province, also argues that the hijab and chador are not part of the culture of Afghan women and girls.

Lina, a resident of Kabul, says she was horrified when she saw the new posters from Taliban ministry.

“By doing this, the Taliban want to instill fear in the hearts of the people,” Lina told RFE/RL. “They can rule by force and impose a foreign culture on the people. I am afraid of the day when the Taliban will whip women over their heads.”

The Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan during the late 1990s also obliged women to wear an Islamic headscarf. Those who violated the rule were often beaten in public.

Turpiki, an activist and deputy head of the Women’s Peace and Freedom Organization, told RFE/RL that the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan “should not think that their previous actions can be repeated now.”

“Chador and hijab are not the custom of our women,” Turpiki said. “The Taliban should not think that they can once again impose what they want on Afghan women. They will stand up against such actions.”

Earlier, the Taliban-led government confirmed that it had ordered bus drivers and taxi drivers not to carry women in their vehicles unless they are wearing an Islamic veil.

According to that order, drivers are also not allowed to transport unmarried women in their vehicles more than 70 kilometers.

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Pashtun Taliban v. Tajiks: ‘A Clash of Civilizations?’

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MEReports: Is it a clash between Pashtun tribal culture and Farsiwan (Tajiks, Turks, Hazaras, etc.)? To some degree it is: Farsiwan culture is sophisticated and extended from Iraq and Anatolia to India and over the Oxus into Central Asia and Inner Asia. Persian culture produced hundreds of thousands of titles of scientific and literary import; whereas Pashtun culture did not. Click here to read more (external link).

Iran says won’t officially recognise Taliban after Tehran talks

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Al Jazeera: Iran is still some time away from officially recognising the Taliban as the government of neighbouring Afghanistan, its foreign ministry says, after a meeting with the group in Tehran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Sunday’s high-level talks with Taliban representatives were “positive”, but Iran is still “not at the point of officially recognising Taliban”. Click here to read more (external link).

The Number of Malnourished Children Increased 1.5 Times

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Tolo News: Health officials in Badakhshan province said the number of malnourished children has increased. Ahmad Jawid Mohebi, head of the malnutrition department of the Taliban’s public health department for Badakhshan province, told Hasht-e Subh that due to poverty and hunger, the number of malnourished children in Badakhshan had increased about 1.5 times compared to previous years. Click here to read more (external link).