20 Foreign Ministers Regrets Taliban Closes School for Girls Again

Jakarta, MINA – Foreign Minister of 20 countries, including Indonesia regret the Taliban’s decision to close schools for girls in Afghanistan again after hours of opening.

The statement was made by the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, together with the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Libya, Malawi, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Tonga and England.

“We urge the Taliban to fulfill their commitments to the Afghan people and to adhere to international conventions that Afghanistan has adhered to. We call on the Taliban to reverse their recent decisions and to provide equal access to all levels of education, in all the country’s provinces,” said the joint statement as quoted from the website of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

“As women and as foreign ministers, we are deeply disappointed and concerned that girls in Afghanistan are being denied access to secondary schools this spring. The Taliban’s decision to suspend middle classes until further notice is deeply troubling as we have repeatedly heard of their commitment to open all a school for all children,” the statement added.

In addition, the United States also canceled a planned dialogue with the Taliban due to the sudden decision.

“We have canceled several of our approaches, including a planned meeting in Doha at the Doha Forum,” said deputy spokeswoman for the US State Department, Jalina Porter, quoted by DW.

Women’s rights and education for girls were the main concerns of the global community when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2022.

After months of uncertainty, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education under the Taliban announced the opening of schools to all students, including girls, last week.

But hours after classes opened, the ministry issued a new regulation: “We inform all high school students and schools with girls above grade 6, to end classes until further notice.”

The announcement was responded to by the deep disappointment of all schoolgirls in Afghanistan. There has been international criticism, which has always been concerned about the issue after the Taliban came to power. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)