RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has issued a directive to recruitment and travel agencies in Kabul, prohibiting them from facilitating tourist visas for Afghanistani workers. The ministry announced this decision in a statement on Tuesday, February 11, following a meeting between Abdul Manan Omari, the Taliban’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, and representatives from several employment and travel companies. The Taliban have justified this restriction as a measure to curb the “illegal transfer of Afghanistani labor” abroad. According to the ministry’s statement, Omari claimed that, in coordination with the Ministry of Information and Culture, the Taliban will implement a structured framework to regulate labor migration and prevent Afghanistani citizens from leaving the country under the guise of tourism.
Omari further asserted that the responsibility for managing legal labor migration and addressing Afghanistani workers’ concerns abroad lies with several Taliban-controlled ministries, including Labor and Social Affairs, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Public Health, and the National Statistics and Information Authority. Since the Taliban’s takeover, nearly eight million Afghanistanis have fled the country, driven by unemployment, poverty, hunger, and economic despair. However, while the Taliban claim to be preventing irregular labor migration, their policies have been the primary force behind Afghanistan’s economic collapse, leaving millions of Afghanistanis with no means of survival.
Over the past two and a half years, the Taliban have systematically dismantled employment opportunities, shutting down businesses and institutions that once provided jobs. Meanwhile, positions within government and key sectors have largely been filled by Taliban fighters, leaving countless skilled professionals jobless. With the economy in freefall and opportunities vanishing, Afghanistanis have been left with no choice but to flee. Now, as the Taliban tighten restrictions on labor migration, the question remains: What future awaits Afghanistani workers when the very authorities obstructing their departure are the ones responsible for their economic destitution?
