The signatories ask “the French authorities to set up an emergency humanitarian reception program” for Afghan women.
350 personalities sign a column published Friday, April 21 in the newspaper The world, which franceinfo was able to consult, calling for a rethink of the reception system for Afghan women in France. Behind this initiative, the journalist Solène Chalvon-Fioriti.
The former correspondent in Afghanistan for ten years, author of the text, explains in this forum that “women who have managed to reach a neighboring country” like Pakistan or Iran “are only a few thousand” et “that they could be taken care of”. The journalist affirms that those who “manage to cross the border (…) find themselves alone, exposed to new dangers”.
Solène Chalvon-Fioriti says that this situation is the result of the return to power, in August 2021, of the Taliban. “Between 2001 and 2021, the percentage of girls enrolled in primary school in Afghanistan increased from 0% to 40%. The number of female students in university increased 20 times.” She notices that“in 2023, the counters were reset, by force. By the sole will of an illegitimate dictatorship”deplores the journalist who adds: “Afghanistan is the most repressive country for the rights of women and girls.”
Solène Chalvon-Fioriti recalls that in “September 2021, the European Parliament had called for the creation of a specific humanitarian visa to welcome Afghan women”but that this call “remained unanswered”.
Facilitate access to French territory
Today, the great reporter as well as all the signatories – including Agnès Jaoui, Virginie Despentes, Leïla Slimani, or even the director of Science Po Mathias Vicherat – ask “the French authorities to set up an emergency humanitarian reception program to allow access to our territory for these women who no longer have access to work or education and who are isolated in Pakistan or Iran”.
This reception program would be based on “three pillars” : “humanitarian aid in the countries bordering Afghanistan to protect these women who are fleeing”; “a commitment to facilitate and accelerate the issuance of visas allowing them to reach France to seek asylum there” ; and finally “a reinforced reception system on arrival in France, which recognizes their specific needs and adds to the already existing arrangements for other asylum seekers”.
