After returning to power last August, the Taliban imposed sweeping restrictions on women, including the types of jobs they could do. According to the International Labour Organization, the share of women in employment is expected to fall by 21 percent by mid-2022,
Zahra – who is not using her real name for security reasons (like all Afghans mentioned in this story) – said she is able to work in the United Nations compound in Kabul thanks to an agreement the organisation reached with the Taliban. However, her brother, who worked with the United States military in Afghanistan, received two letters containing death threats from the Taliban in March and has been forced to remain in hiding.
Zahra and several of her family members have applied for the special immigrant visa (SIV) programme, open to people who worked with the US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. But to her dismay, she has not received any response to her application in almost nine months – and since March, has watched Ukrainians being processed more easily. According to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statistics, more than 60,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine have received parole status between March 24 and June 23.
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