According to reporter Maija Liuhto, the Taliban regime has especially destroyed the dreams of young women.
Editor of Maija Liuhto is currently in Kabul, Afghanistan. He says that in the capital everything now shines through the gloom.
According to Liuhto, in addition to the subordinate position of women, he is shocked by the fact that there is no electricity in Kabul. Electricity is available for two hours a day.
People can’t heat their homes, even though it’s winter and it can be 20 degrees below zero outside.
– It means that at night it is also 20 degrees below zero inside, Liuhto says.
There is no electricity because, for example, there is no extra electricity from Uzbekistan and other neighbors to deliver to Afghanistan.
In the past, Maija Liuhto has lived in Kabul and since then she has visited the city numerous times. For him, the change in the city is striking and it is due to the rapid deterioration of the economic situation.
– In the evenings, you don’t see people on the streets like before. Ordinary people cannot afford to go to restaurants, for example. Instead, the elite can still afford it.
Young people leave as soon as they can
Another huge change can be seen in women’s lives. The Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan for a year and a half, has enacted numerous laws that shackle women’s lives.
Young girls and women no longer have access to middle school, high school or university. It has been a big shock to many of the young women whom Maija Liuhto has met and interviewed.
– The girls have had dreams of studying to become a doctor, for example. Now that dream is shattered when you can no longer go to university.
Maija Liuhto says that despite the Taliban’s tight grip, young women dare to speak boldly about their dissatisfaction and their dreams.
You can’t study, but because of the country’s poor economic situation, there aren’t really any jobs either.
– A large number of young people are only thinking about a way to get out of the country. Both young women and men have the same dream, because there are no more opportunities to earn a living in Afghanistan.