Evelyn REGNER (S&D,AT), Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), makes a statement on the situation of women in Afghanistan, during a meeting of the FEMM committee in the European Parliament in Brussels

statement

meeting

EU - Afghanistan (T)

violence against women (T)

REGNER, Evelyn (S&D, AT)

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality

Situation of women in Afghanistan: statement by Evelyn REGNER (S&D, AT), FEMM Chair

Title: Situation of women in Afghanistan: statement by Evelyn REGNER (S&amp;D, AT), FEMM Chair 

SOUNDBITE (English), Evelyn REGNER (S&amp;D, AT), FEMM Chair, The future is dark, really very dark. Taliban means for women and for girls to be completely pushed away from the public: from schools, from universities, from the official governments, it means false marriages, it means violence. To be a women, to be a girl in Afghanistan means that it is really dangerous and that your life is in danger.

SOUNDBITE (English), Evelyn REGNER (S&amp;D, AT), FEMM Chair, People are not alone even when the last military plane right now is gone. The cooperation and the rescuing of people, the respect for human rights, this is something for the European Union to fight for also in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Evelyn REGNER (S&amp;D, AT), FEMM Chair, Without the help of the US military all those evacuation couldn't take place, so the European Union also has to work very precisely on sovereignty, on more autonomy when it's about rescuing people to get them out of the country. So the European Union's effort must be focused on still, even if it is almost mission impossible, to rescue as many people as possible from Afghanistan and to put pressure on the member states to cooperate very closely to give those humanitarian visas and this is the most important thing that helps people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Evelyn REGNER (S&amp;D, AT), FEMM Chair, The European Union has also the necessity to go into a sort of dialogue because it is about rescuing people, it is about rescuing especially those female activists, journalists, professors, those being in the public life. It is about human lives especially women's lives and therefore yes, of course there has to be a sort of dialogue and European Union has to be crystal clear towards other countries for example like Turkey, where the weapons are stored and to give a clear message that there is no way, ever to cooperate and to do whatever and to tolerate the ISIS so this is a huge task, it is a bigger picture and yes, the European Union should not close eyes and never give up when it's about rescuing people.