Sayyaf: Taliban Restrictions Have Forced Many Afghans to Leave the Country

Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, a jihadist leader and a member of the leadership board of the High Council for National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan, says the pressure, humiliation and wide-ranging restrictions imposed by the Taliban administration over the past five years have forced many families to leave Afghanistan to protect their children.

Speaking on Sunday, Aug. 25, at an online event marking the fifth anniversary of Kabul’s سقوط, Sayyaf said the Taliban administration has had “no achievement other than humiliating, pressuring and insulting the people of Afghanistan” during this period. He added that by depriving citizens of basic freedoms, the administration has imposed an atmosphere of suffocation on society.

According to him, the Taliban administration has violated people’s fundamental rights and, through its conduct, trampled on the dignity of citizens. Sayyaf said many families have been compelled to leave the country because of their children’s uncertain future and the severity of the restrictions.

He also criticised the religious and social consequences of the Taliban administration’s actions, saying it has presented the world with a false and distorted image of Islam. According to Sayyaf, Islam is a religion of mercy and kindness, but the Taliban administration has turned it into a tool of intimidation and humiliation and justifies its policies under a religious cover.

In another part of his remarks, Sayyaf told political currents and leaders opposed to the Taliban administration that focusing solely on fighting it is not enough. He called for the drafting of a comprehensive, national and inclusive plan for Afghanistan’s future after the Taliban — a plan that, he said, should encompass the rights and demands of all ethnic groups, social strata and political movements.

The High Council for National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan is among the coalitions opposed to the Taliban administration that formed after the fall of Kabul. Kabul fell to the Taliban administration in August 2021, and since then sweeping restrictions on citizens’ rights and freedoms, especially those of women, have repeatedly drawn criticism.