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Open Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides

Find the full statement of the EWL member Cyprus Women’s Lobby here.

[Nicosia, 17 August, 2021]

Honorable Minister,

The safety of Afghan women and girls should be a fundamental EU priority. We witness another war with tragic victims of women and girls, something we unfortunately know in our country very well. Cyprus Women’s Lobby is concerned about the situation of women in Afghanistan, and the impacts on those who have been the protagonists in the fight for women and girls’ rights in their country in recent years. They now face threats by the Taliban military regime, without any respect of their physical integrity, human dignity or their basic rights.

Mr. Minister,

We know that, in the Afghan refugee population, the ratio has always been 10-20 % women to 90-80 % men. It was already almost impossible for Afghan women to seek asylum. All Afghan diaspora is guided by men, with their own male agenda. Now, men are leaving, and women are once again abandoned.

Mr. Minister,

We urge our Government to be a pioneer at today’s meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States and lead so that the European Union and the UN Security Council can ensure the rights of those Afghan women and girls at risk by sending appropriate messages to the Taliban regime. At the same time, we urge the Republic of Cyprus to show once again its humanitarian spirit and grant political asylum within the resources and capabilities of our country to all these Afghan women and their children in danger due to politics and their activism who want to take refuge in our country.

Finally, we invite you to support the organisations working to safeguard the rights of Afghan women and girls:

Women Regional Network https://gofund.me/423dddab
Women Living under Muslim Laws https://www.wluml.org/how-to-help/
Women for Afghan Women https://womenforafghanwomen.networkforgood.com
We the Afghan https://gofund.me/91e9399b
DENY https://www.negar-afghanwomen.org/2/parrainage/
Afghan Women’s Network https://www.facebook.com/afghanwomennetwork/
Her Afghanistan https://www.herafghanistan.com

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