Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said on Saturday they would resume issuing passports, giving hope to citizens who feel threatened living under the extremists’ rule.
Thousands of Afghans have applied for travel documents to escape the country’s growing economic and humanitarian crisis, which the UN has called an “avalanche of hunger“.
Authorities will start issuing the documents from Sunday at Kabul’s passport office, Alam Gul Haqqani, the head of the passport department in the interior ministry, told reporters.
The Taliban stopped issuing passports shortly after their August 15 return to power, as tens of thousands of people scrambled to Kabul’s only airport to try to catch international flights out of the country.
In October, authorities reopened the passport office in Kabul only to suspend work days later as a flood of applications caused its biometric equipment to break down.
“All the technical issues have now been resolved,“ Haqqani said.
Initially, travel documents will be given to those who had applied before the office suspended work, he said.
New applications will be accepted from January 10, he said.
Many Afghans who wanted to visit neighbouring Pakistan for medical treatment have been unable to do so.
“My mother has some health issues and we needed to go to Pakistan a long time ago, but we could not because the passport department was closed,“ said Jamshid, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name.
“We are happy now ... we can get our passports and go to Pakistan,“ he said.
Many people gathered outside the passport office in Kabul on Saturday, soon after the announcement.
Issuing passports – and allowing eligible people to leave Afghanistan – is seen as a test of the Taliban’s commitment to engagement with the international community.
They are pressing donors to provide billions of dollars in aid that was suspended when the previous, western-backed regime imploded in the final stages of a US military withdrawal.
The abrupt withholding of aid has amounted to an “unprecedented“ fiscal shock for the Afghan economy, which is already battered by drought and decades of war, according to the UN Development Programme.
The crisis has forced many in the capital to sell possessions to buy food for their families.
On Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai urged UN aid agencies to apply pressure for the release of nearly $10 billion of assets held in the US.
Stanekzai also urged all Afghan refugees living abroad to return now that the war has ended.
“We invite and encourage everyone to return to Afghanistan, even our political opponents,“ he said at an event held in Kabul to mark International Migrants Day.
“I request the United States to support us in giving our people a good life here in Afghanistan rather than taking them out.“
Over the past four decades, more than six million Afghans have fled the country to escape war and economic crises, most of them living in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.
The international community has so far not recognised the present Taliban government that was formed soon after the chaotic withdrawal of US-led foreign troops.
International flights, mainly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have slowly resumed at Kabul’s airport, which was badly damaged in August when crowds of people scrambled to flee Afghanistan.
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
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- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
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- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
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Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
LIGUE 1 FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Nice v Angers (9pm)
Lille v Monaco (10.45pm)
Saturday
Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain (7pm)
Bordeaux v Guingamp (10pm)
Caen v Amiens (10pm)
Lyon v Dijon (10pm)
Metz v Troyes (10pm)
Sunday
Saint-Etienne v Rennes (5pm)
Strasbourg v Nantes (7pm)
Marseille v Toulouse (11pm)
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Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
