French Educational NGO Afrane Winds Up Work in Afghanistan After Taliban Seized Power

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2021) The French NGO Afrane (Amitie franco-afghane, or Franco-Afghan friendship), which for more than four decades provided Afghans access to education, had to cease its operations in 13 Afghan provinces and in Kabul after the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) seized power, the organization's vice-president, Etienne Gille, told Sputnik.

The radical Islamist movement entered the Afghan capital on Sunday, ending a surprisingly swift offensive and the existence of the US-supported government. The coup resulted in thousands of Afghans trying to escape the country for fear of reprisals from the militants.

"My pain is immense when I see what is happening; popular angst all over Afghanistan is unbearable. As for our work, the Taliban may allow us to resume, but if it is to impose backward principles in schools with the transformation of high schools into madrassahs [Islamic institution of education], maintaining the teaching of girls as they say they will, but separately and by teaching a backward Sharia [Islamic law], I am afraid it will not be possible to collaborate," Gille said.

Since the 1970s, the nonprofit organization has been providing education to children and helping locals recover from countless conflicts. In the early 2000s, the Taliban banned the NGO. Afrane, however, continued clandestine teaching.

"The Taliban use a double language and say on the one hand that they will respect human rights; they also have - it seems - the ambition to be recognized internationally, but on the other hand, they remain very brutal and dogmatic; they hang easily... So I don't know if we'll ever be able to return. The next few months will tell," Gille added.

Last month, the organization evacuated its French staff and the families of some 15 Afghans who were granted asylum in France. As for their Afghan personnel who stayed in the country, most of them are hiding in mountain villages, out of fear of the Taliban's vengeance.