New Zealand journalist granted bail after she sought help from Taliban

After an outcry, a pregnant New Zealand journalist who said she sought help from the Taliban after being unable to come home has been granted given re-entry.

Charlotte Bellis said she flew to Afghanistan because she couldn’t get a visa under New Zealand’s tough Covid border requirements.

Her storey brought attention to Wellington’s strict border controls, which are designed to prevent the coronavirus out.

Others, though, were critical of her close ties to the Taliban.

In recent months, the Taliban has been chastised for ruthlessly restricting women’s rights. Activists and campaigners have been accused of being arrested, tortured, and even killed.

Following widespread media coverage of the issue, the New Zealand government announced on Tuesday that it had provided Ms Bellis a quarantine space and made flight arrangements.

At a regular Covid briefing, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson told media, “There is a place in controlled isolation and quarantine for Ms Bellis, and I urge her to take it up.”

He denied that the move was taken as a result of the media focus on her case, claiming that emergency applications were handled on a daily basis by his staff.

“They try to establish touch with people and work out arrangements all the time.”

Ms Bellis, who wrote about her ordeal in a national newspaper on Saturday, had previously stated that the New Zealand government had given her consular assistance twice.

Ms Bellis wrote in her New Zealand Herald column that the government had refused her application to return home to give birth last week.

Wellington currently allows citizens and permanent residents to enter, but only after they have spent 10 days in quarantine.

Many New Zealanders who want to return have been effectively shut out of their nation over the past two years due to high demand for such facilities and a restricted number of seats.

She contrasted that to how the Taliban handled her when she contacted them to see if she would be welcome in Afghanistan as an unmarried pregnant woman.

Ms Bellis was in Belgium with her partner, a Belgian photojournalist, when she communicated with senior Taliban officials. However, because she was not a permanent resident, her visa was about to expire.

She and her companion only had visas for Afghanistan because they had been there last year to cover the departure of US soldiers.

“You are welcome to attend and there will be no problems. Simply tell people you’re married, and if things get out of hand, phone us “According to Ms Bellis, the unnamed officials said in response to her request.

“You know your situation is twisted up when the Taliban offers you – a pregnant, unmarried lady – safe shelter,” she wrote.

Taliban officials have harassed single Afghan moms on a regular basis, pressuring them to give up their children and threatening their custody rights.