A British couple who spent virtually twenty years operating education schemes in Afghanistan have been detained by the Taliban earlier this month, their kids stated in interviews with quite a lot of British information shops.
The couple, Peter Reynolds and Barbie Reynolds, have been arrested on Feb. 1 when returning to their house within the nation’s Bamiyan Province, in line with accounts first given to The Sunday Occasions of London. The pair, who’re of their 70s, have long term a program that provides schooling and coaching in Afghanistan.
After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 2021 and the withdrawal of Western troops from the nation, the couple determined to remain regardless of the potential danger, in line with one in every of their 4 kids.
“They have been simply attempting to assist the nation they cherished,” Sarah Entwistle, the couple’s eldest daughter, informed The Sunday Occasions.
When the Taliban got here to energy, it imposed an Islamic republic authorities and rolled again rights for ladies and different teams, together with limiting entry to schooling for ladies after the sixth grade. Girls are additionally banned from most workplaces, and public areas like parks, gyms and salons underneath Taliban regulation.
Ms. Entwistle informed the BBC that she and her siblings have been in a position to message their mother and father for a number of days after their arrest. Her mother and father informed them they have been being held by the inside ministry however have been positive, she stated. However she added that she has not heard from them in over two weeks and stated she feared for his or her well-being due to their age and since her father is at the moment taking medicine, after not too long ago affected by a stroke.
Mr. Reynolds, 79, and Ms. Reynolds, 75, have been engaged on quite a lot of instructional tasks as a part of Rebuild, a analysis and coaching firm that they based in 2009. One program helped to show parenting abilities to moms, in line with their daughter. “The thought they’re being held as a result of they have been instructing moms with kids is outrageous,” Ms. Entwistle informed The Sunday Occasions.
The couple’s connection to Afghanistan extends again to their youth. In response to their growth firm’s web site, they married there greater than 50 years in the past. Rebuild relies in Kabul, however has packages throughout the nation.
“Underneath the brand new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Rebuild has grown and developed new enterprises with new workers, keen to assist and help their nation’s future,” the corporate web site reads. In a video on the web site, revealed months after the Taliban took management, Mr. Reynolds explains the sensible coaching they provide. Footage reveals ladies in head scarves and males participating in programs, together with “communication abilities” and administration coaching. In different clips, kids are proven apparently studying the alphabet.
The couple’s kids have written to the Taliban, in a letter shared with The Related Press, urging them to launch Mr. and Ms. Reynolds.
“They’ve at all times been open about their presence and their work, diligently respecting and obeying the legal guidelines as they alter,” their kids wrote. “They’ve chosen Afghanistan as their house, slightly than with household in England, and so they want to spend the remainder of their lives in Afghanistan.”
Of their letter, the household stated that the Taliban have been conscious of the couple’s work and had beforehand supported their coaching efforts.
“We kindly ask for the discharge of our father and mom to allow them to return to their work in instructing, coaching and serving Afghanistan, which you’ve beforehand supported.”
The Taliban authorities and native officers in Bamiyan didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A consultant for Britain’s International Workplace confirmed in an emailed assertion that it’s “supporting the household of two British nationals who’re detained in Afghanistan,” however declined to offer additional particulars.
The international workplace advises towards all journey to Afghanistan, pointing to a “heightened danger of British nationals being detained” and to the British authorities’s “extraordinarily restricted” capacity to assist these in want of consular help, because it has no embassy or diplomatic relationship with the Taliban.
The US additionally has no diplomatic representatives within the nation and has likewise warned towards journey to Afghanistan by Americans. A variety of Westerners have been detained within the nation because the Taliban seized management, and two Individuals have been freed in a prisoner swap in January.
Safiullah Padshah contributed reporting
