Despite the Taliban’s repeated claims of supporting Afghan returnees, harrowing scenes on the streets of Afghanistan tell a different story. Women, children, and even men expelled from Iran and Pakistan can be seen in cities across the country, extending their hands in despair to passersby; a painful reflection of poverty, abandonment, and unfulfilled promises.

Members of the Lantern of Freedom of Afghanistan Women Movement held a protest on Tuesday (11 November) against the Taliban’s recent order making the wearing of the burqa mandatory for women in Herat province.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of women in Afghanistan are witnessing their children suffer from malnutrition, as international aid declines and winter approaches.

Following the Taliban’s decision to make the wearing of the burqa mandatory for women in Herat province, the Republican Women’s Network of Afghanistan issued a statement condemning the order as “a blatant violation of human dignity and the fundamental rights of women.”