"We must work with the Taliban to save Afghanistan"

Peter Jouvenal and his wife Hassina Syed recently took part in The Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2022, which focused on how to find a way forward for Afghanistan, where they shared their respective experiences of fleeing and escaping from the country.

Hassina, a political activist, was one of thousands of British nationals forced to flee Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban seized power of the country.

And then at the end of 2021, her husband Peter was imprisoned in Afghanistan while he was working there, and was dramatically released on June 27 last year.

Even after the withdrawal of international troops last year and more than a year under the Taliban’s rule, the freedom and basic human rights of the Afghan people, especially women who have been banned from attending university under Taliban rule, continue to deteriorate.

And now the winter is here, Hassina said the priority for the Forum is how to save the people living in poverty in Afghanistan, and the best way to do that is to work with the Taliban.

"If you ask anyone who is hungry if they want a food or a job, of course they’ll say yes, but people can’t work with a hungry, empty belly.

"The forum was good way for the world to find a way forward for Afghanistan because right now, everyone is thinking about one thing, which is women’s education as women are now being told they can’t attend university,” Hassina explained.

"Of course, this is an important issue as every human needs an education, but when you see the current situation in Afghanistan, it’s getting worse and we have to think beyond women’s rights and unless we work with the Taliban and teach them about women’s rights it’s only going to get worse.”

Hassina has already said that there are plans in place for her to fly out to Afghanistan next month to help create jobs for local people to help ease the situation out there.

"I’ve been talking to Taliban ministers and everyone is happy for me to do this.

"If you read our holy book [the Qur'an] the first word in the text is ‘read’ and that’s why there’s the opportunity for women to go to school, but the first thing is that we have to create jobs as Afghanistan is now becoming a disaster zone, and that’s the reality.”

Hassina added that people need to know the situation in Afghanistan, if anything to understand why there might be an influx of refugees from the country:

"I just need to raise my voice to the world, and people need to know what’s happening,” she said, “There’s a famine going on with no food and no jobs, so all they can do is sell their homes and become refugees and people have to find out about why it’s happening, and why they are becoming refugees.”