A first humanitarian convoy, to escape the clutches of the Taliban. France welcomes on Monday a handful of Afghan women threatened by the Taliban and exiled in neighboring Pakistan, an evacuation operation long demanded by their supporters who call on Paris to change gear with a humanitarian corridor dedicated to women.
They are currently five Afghan women, including one accompanied by three children, who are to land Monday afternoon at Paris Roissy airport, several months after fleeing the Taliban regime which regained power in Afghanistan in the summer. 2021.
Former directors of the University of Sciences, consultant for NGOs, television presenter or even teacher in a “secret school in Kabul”, they have in common not to have been able to benefit from air bridges to Western countries during the fall power in the hands of the Taliban. And to have had to flee on their own to neighboring Pakistan.
An evacuation operation “made to reproduce”
As soon as they arrive, these women will first be housed in a “transit” center in the Paris region, registered as asylum seekers and then directed to “long-term” accommodation, while the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and stateless persons (Ofpra) rules on their cases, explained Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii).
“Quietly, the Apagan operation (to exfiltrate Afghans to France) continues”, added the prefect Didier Leschi, stressing that this type of evacuation operation is “likely to happen again if other women corresponding to this profile have found refuge in Pakistan”.
Since its return to power, the Taliban regime has gradually reduced the rights of Afghan women who can no longer go to school after 12 years, access universities or parks or sports halls. They no longer have the right to work and are excluded from most civil service positions.