The Taliban, who overran Afghanistan in August 2021, deposed the democratically elected government and seized control, are not known for their treatment of women. Given their strict interpretation and implementation of the Sharia law, their view on extramarital sex is also not something that offers much hope.
But an “unmarried and pregnant” journalist Charlotte Bellis who worked for Qatar-based Al Jazeera is stranded in Afghanistan and now at the mercy of the Taliban, as her home country, New Zealand is refusing to take her in due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
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The complicated situation of Charlotte Bellis
Charlotte Bellis wrote in The New Zealand Herald on Saturday that it was “brutally ironic” that she had previously questioned the Taliban about their treatment of women and was now questioning her own government.
“You know your situation is messed up when the Taliban offers you — a pregnant, unmarried lady — safe shelter,” Bellis wrote in her column.
This is an insane story that (particularly as a woman and mother) made my blood boil, for Charlotte and all the other pregnant New Zealanders who have been forbidden to return home. It raises many important questions and not just for NZ. https://t.co/mMlpwHroVA
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) January 28, 2022
Charlotte Bellis, an Al Jazeera English correspondent, covered the American troop departure from Afghanistan. She had also received international notoriety by challenging Taliban officials about how they treated women and girls.
Bellis said she returned to Qatar in September and discovered she was pregnant with her partner, freelance photographer Jim Huylebroek, a contributor to The New York Times. She described the pregnancy as a “miracle” after earlier being told by doctors she couldn’t have children. She is due to give birth to a girl in May.
But since it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Qatar, Bellis kept her pregnancy secret and resigned from the network hoping to get back to her home country. Bellis said she spoke with senior Taliban contacts who told her she would be fine if she returned to Afghanistan.
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Why New Zealand has failed to help Ms. Bellis?
“Just tell people you’re married and if it escalates, call us. Don’t worry,” Bellis said they told her. She said she sent 59 documents to New Zealand authorities in Afghanistan but they rejected her application for an emergency return.
Chris Bunny, the joint head of, told the Herald that Bellis’s emergency application didn’t fit a requirement that she travel within 14 days. He said staff had reached out to Bellis about making another application that would fit within the requirements.
“This is not unusual,” Bunny said, “and is an example of the team assisting New Zealanders who are in difficulty.” Because of the poor status of maternity care and surgical capabilities in Afghanistan, Bellis believes that pregnancy can be a death sentence.
She said that after talking to lawyers, politicians and public relations people in New Zealand, her case seems to be moving forward again, although she has yet to be approved passage home.