Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered all national and international NGOs to stop their women employees from working after “serious complaints” about their dress code.

The Taliban threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs that failed to implement the directive.

The country’s Ministry of Economy made this known on Saturday.

The latest restriction comes less than a week after the Taliban authorities banned women from attending universities, prompting global outrage and protests.

While the Taliban had promised a softer form of rule when they returned to power in August last year, they have instead imposed harsh restrictions on women – effectively squeezing them out of public life.

READ ALSO: Taliban bans university education for women in Afghanistan

“There have been serious complaints regarding the non-observance of the Islamic hijab and other rules and regulations pertaining to the work of females in national and international organisations,” a notification sent to all NGOs, a copy of which was obtained by AFP and confirmed by a spokesman for the ministry of economy read.

“The ministry of economy … instructs all organisations to stop females working until further notice.

“In case of negligence of the above directive, the license of the organisation which has been issued by this ministry, will be cancelled,” it added.

Two international NGOs confirmed that they had received the notification.

“We are suspending all our activities from Sunday. We will soon have a meeting of top officials of all NGOs to decide how to handle this issue,” a top official at an international NGO involved in humanitarian work told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Dozens of national and international NGOs continue to work in several sectors across remote areas of Afghanistan, and many of their employees are women.

The Star