Malala criticises EU plan to host Taliban officials for migration talks

LONDON: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday criticised reported European Union plans to host Afghan Taliban officials in Brussels for discussions on a migration arrangement, saying such engagement risks legitimising what she described as a system of “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan.

In a video message, Malalan said that she was “shaken and deeply disturbed” by the prospect of talks involving representatives of the Taliban, accusing the group of systematically targeting women and girls.

She said the Taliban had banned girls from secondary education, restricted women’s movement and public participation, and carried out arrests and violence against women who defied their rules.

“The same Taliban that banned girls from secondary schools… that detains, beats, and executes women who dare to speak out,” she said, referring to recent developments in Afghanistan.

Malala said that European engagement with the group should not proceed without placing women’s rights at the centre of any diplomatic process.

“Europe must not legitimise a regime responsible for one of the worst human rights crises in the world,” she said, urging that any dialogue with the Taliban begin and end with the rights of Afghan women and girls.

The European Union has not confirmed details of any such meeting in Brussels, and there was no immediate response from Taliban representatives to Malala’s remarks.