The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan ordered female patients, caretakers and staff to wear a burka – a full Islamic veil – to enter public health facilities in the western city of Herat, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says.
MSF have said the restrictions came into effect on 5 November causing hospital admissions to drop, although they had since “stabilised”.
“[This] may partly be because some women have managed to return to the hospital after obtaining a burka,” Sarah Chateau, the agency’s programme manager in Afghanistan, told the BBC. “However, we remain concerned [this] could further limit women’s access to healthcare.”
A Taliban government spokesman denied MSF’s account.
Ms Chateau said they remained particularly concerned for those women who are unable to wear a burka when coming to the city’s hospital.
Even those women “in need of urgent medical care” had been affected, she told the BBC earlier.
MSF, which supports paediatric services at Herat Regional Hospital, said it had observed a 28% drop in admissions of patients whose conditions were urgent during the first few days of the new enforcement.
Ms Chateau said Taliban members had been denying entry to women without the burka by standing at the entrance of the health facilities. A burka is a one-piece veil that covers the face and body, often leaving just a mesh screen to see through.
“Even though the veil edit was announced earlier, this is the first time we are seeing the enforcement of the burka in Herat. In the past few days more and more women are coming to the hospital with burkas.”
Since the alarm was raised last week restrictions are reported to have been partially relaxed.
“I visited a few wards of the hospital, saw women in burkas, scarves and hijab,” an unnamed local journalist told the BBC on Wednesday. “I have noticed no restrictions on women who were entering the hospital – women were getting to the hospital with all sorts of previously common hijab, including burkas, were at the gate and inside. The situation is normal.”
A Taliban spokesperson for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry, which enforces strict religious doctrines, dismissed reports that women were being forced to wear the burka.
“This is totally false. The position of the vice and virtue ministry is generally on the wearing of hijab,” Saif-ul-Islam Khyber said.
Hijab means covering up generally but also describes the headscarves worn by Muslim women.
The Taliban official also rejected reports that women were banned from medical centres for not wearing the burka.
At the same time, the Taliban official said: “Hijab is interpreted differently in different parts of the country, most of which are in conflict with Sharia [law].”
Activists have also alleged that Taliban guards have been enforcing the wearing of burkas for women to enter key facilities for the past week.
One female activist from Herat province told the BBC that the dress code was applicable for those who want to enter hospitals, schools and government offices.
There has also been criticism on social media over the Taliban’s reported decision to impose the burka in Herat.
An Afghan activist posted a video on X showing some women setting fire to the garments in protest at the Taliban’s rule. The BBC has not independently verified the video.
The Taliban enforced the burka during their first stint in power in the 1990s.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban government has imposed numerous restrictions, particularly for women, in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
In 2022, the Taliban issued a decree ordering women to wear an all-covering Islamic face veil in public. Taliban officials then described the face veil edict as “advice”.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have barred women from most workplaces and universities and girls from secondary schools. The UN has repeatedly urged the Taliban to end what it describes as “gender apartheid”.
Last week, the UN said it had suspended operations at a key border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran because of restrictions on Afghan women staff working at the border.
Islam Qala, in Herat province, has been the main crossing point for hundreds of thousands of Afghans forced to leave Iran in the past year.
