EU Parliament Member asks Taliban to lift ban on girls' education

Taking a grim view of the ongoing human rights violations in Afghanistan, Hannah Neuman, a German member of the European Parliament, called for urgent measures to lift the ban on the exclusion of the girls from the schools.

She also sought the inclusion of sections of the society in the administration at all levels.

"Girls who returned on March 23 after the Taliban stayed with the ban on their entry in the classes are in despairs while they've tears in their eyes, and some of the families literally used their last penny to gain means for access to the schools, including buying backpacks, books," said Newman, according to TOLOnews.

The decision by the Islamic Emirate has drawn severe backlash across the world with the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America criticising the Taliban's decision to deny Afghan girls the opportunity to finally go back to schools in a statement previously.

The Taliban have issued a decree banning female students of grade 6 and above from attending classes in schools.

Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday in Kabul, Newman also expressed concerns about the "disappearances of the former government officials".

She stated, "I heard many stories about violence, about violence against protestors, violence against journalists, about enforced disappearances, also enforced disappearances of people who just did their job in the administration previously." She called for the inclusion of other social groups into the government, TOLOnews reported.

German Parliament Member of EU Hannah Neuman further said, "The Taliban are good fighters apparently because they managed to take over a country, but governing a country needs a rather different set of skills, it especially needs leaders that listen to the citizens that they want to represent, and, on this one, I hope to see soon some kind of dialogue between the people of Afghanistan that includes the women and also the minority groups."

Since the Taliban took control, Afghan girls are facing restrictions on travel, work, and education, besides their deteriorating safety situation in the country.

(ANI)

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