'We have no future': female students turned away from Afghan universities after Taliban ban
Female university students in Afghanistan were turned away from campuses on Wednesday after the Taliban-run administration said women would be suspended from tertiary education.
The decision to bar women was announced on Tuesday (December 21) evening in a letter to universities from the higher education ministry.
"When I got close to the university, I saw a strange environment. Taliban Humvees were parked at the entrance gate, and the Taliban were behaving so badly, telling us, ‘return to your homes, girls have no right to study anymore,” said Maryam, who studies at Kabul University.
Another university student, Sahar, said she tore up all her notebooks when she heard the news. She had come to Kabul University to enroll, but was denied entrance by Taliban guards at the gate.
"We urge the international community to support us, and negotiate with Taliban to allow us to continue our studies, studying is my only passion and I love to study,” said Sahar.
The announcement by the Taliban administration, which has not been internationally recognised, came as many university students were sitting end-of-term exams.
One mother of a university student, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said her daughter called her in tears when she heard of the letter, fearing she could no longer continue her medical studies in Kabul.
The bar on women students is likely to complicate the Taliban administration's efforts to gain international recognition and to get rid of sanctions that are severely hampering the economy.
Foreign governments, including the United States, have said that a change in policies on women's education is needed before it can consider formally recognising the Taliban-run administration, which is also subject to heavy sanctions.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan asked the Taliban-run administration to "immediately" revoke the decision.
It also urged the authorities to reopen girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and "end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life".
Several Taliban officials, including the deputy foreign minister and administration spokesperson, have spoken out in favour of female education in recent months. The supreme Taliban spiritual leader, based in the southern city of Kandahar, has the final say on major decisions.
A spokesperson for the Taliban-run higher education ministry confirmed there was a letter instructing Afghan public and private universities to suspend access to female students immediately, in accordance with a Cabinet decision.
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