Afghanistan

An independent assessment commissioned by the United Nations has linked recognition of the Taliban government to compliance with Afghanistan's international treaty obligations and commitments, requiring it to immediately remove sweeping curbs on women's rights to education and employment opportunities.

Turkey has become the latest country to begin deporting a large number of Afghans back to their country with almost 4,000 leaving in recent weeks. The expulsions from Turkey come amid large-scale deportations of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Over the past month, an estimated 400,000 Afghans have been repatriated from those two countries.

During the trip, [Iranian President Ebrahim] Raisi and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, announced a historic visa-free travel agreement for their citizens and deals in trade, transportation, and culture, among others.

[…] The near-total contraction of the opiate economy is expected to have far-reaching consequences, UNODC said, highlighting the urgent need for alternative development support for rural communities to build an opium-free future for the Afghan people.  

The Taliban administration wants to formally join Chinese President Xi Jinping's huge 'Belt and Road' infrastructure initiative and will send a technical team to China for talks, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister said on Thursday.

The top UN political official in Afghanistan remains hopeful that Taliban leaders will reverse their stance on women’s rights, urging the international community not to give up on the country. 

Members of the United Nations Security Council, except Russia and China, on Tuesday issued a resounding condemnation of the Taliban’s relentless persecution of women in Afghanistan, calling on all member states to take urgent action to hold the country’s leadership accountable.

The international community must continue to engage with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan despite deep disagreement with their approach to women’s rights and inclusive governance, the UN Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Tuesday. Roza Otunbayeva, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), called for a “reframed engagement strategy”, expressing concern over the “lack of positive direction” in current efforts.

The United Nations said it had documented hundreds of cases of torture and other "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" committed by the Taliban de facto authorities in Afghanistan during the arrest and subsequent detention of individuals.

China has sent a new ambassador to Afghanistan, marking the first time a foreign envoy has been appointed at the ambassadorial level since the Taliban regained power in Kabul two years ago.