Afghan women report forced marriages to flee Taliban takeover, sources say

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The incidents described by sources on CNN were revealed while Afghans were in a transit center abroad. They underscore the Afghans ’desperation to flee the country after the Taliban’s acquisition, and the fear their government could mean for women and girls.

It is unclear how widespread the problem is, but it caused enough concern for U.S. diplomats in the UAE to send a cable.

Sources said some Afghan women and girls housed in one of the evacuation centers in the UAE reported that their families had forced them to marry outside Kabul airport so they could escape the country while the Taliban they took power. In some reported cases, families paid men eligible for evacuation thousands of dollars to marry or impersonate husbands for women to flee.

One source said U.S. diplomats in the UAE would provide guidance to people working at the center on how to identify potential victims of human trafficking. Another said the U.S. State Department had indicated it would coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.

A journalist flees Afghanistan after a groundbreaking television interview with a Taliban spokesman

CNN has contacted the State Department for comment.

The United States relies on third countries as temporary stops before Afghans fly to the United States or other countries. Once in these third countries, Afghans are prosecuted and reviewed before continuing their travels. Some travel to the United States, where officials use a number of military bases to house evacuees.
When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan, between 1996 and 2001, they closed girls ’schools and banned women’s work. After the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, restrictions on women eased.
This time, the Taliban promise to form an “inclusive Afghan Islamic government,” although it is unclear what form it will take and whether the new leadership will include women.

CNN previously reported on the concern shared by Afghan women who have seen progress in recent years just for fear of being lost.

Pashtana Durrani, founder and CEO of Learn, a non-profit agency focused on education and women’s rights, said last month that she had been left in tears for her country: “We have been … regretting the fall of Afghanistan for a while now. So I don’t feel very well. On the contrary, I feel very desperate. “

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