The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has shut down eight support centres in Afghanistan after the Taliban barred female employees from working in its offices. Arafat Jamal, UNHCR’s representative in Afghanistan, confirmed the closures on September 9, Afintl.af reports.
Jamal said the centres had been assisting nearly 7,000 returnees daily with services such as interviews and biometric registration. These tasks, he stressed, require female staff, making the Taliban’s ban operationally crippling and forcing the suspension of services.
According to Reuters, Taliban forces on September 6 stationed guards outside UN offices in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif, blocking women from entering. Officials told Afghan female employees they could not work for the UN or any international body, effectively halting humanitarian programmes.
The ban has also extended to disaster-stricken areas, where female aid workers have been prevented from assisting earthquake survivors. UN officials warned that such restrictions are worsening conditions for vulnerable families, many of whom recently lost homes in the deadly quake.
Compounding the crisis, nearly 100,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan in the first week of September alone. The UN says mass deportations are overwhelming Afghanistan’s fragile aid capacity and straining resources for the displaced and earthquake-affected.
The UN emphasized the decision to close centres was not punitive but operational, as services cannot run without women staff. Jamal urged the Taliban to lift restrictions, stressing that humanitarian access depends on women’s full participation.
The closures highlight a growing international concern that the restrictions are dismantling critical aid operations in Afghanistan. With more than a million Afghans at risk from forced returns, the loss of services could deepen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Unless restrictions ease, aid agencies warn, the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, will face heightened neglect. The episode underscores Afghanistan’s isolation, with Taliban policies undermining both humanitarian relief and global efforts to stabilize the country.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
Sept. 15, 2025