A British couple who spent virtually twenty years operating teaching programs in Afghanistan have been detained by the Taliban earlier this month, their youngsters stated in interviews with a lot of British information retailers.
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 response to accounts first given to The Sunday Times of London. The pair, who’re of their 70s, have future a program that provides training 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 threat, in response to one in every of their 4 youngsters.
“They have been simply attempting to assist the nation they liked,” Sarah Entwistle, the couple’s eldest daughter, advised 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, including restricting access to education for women after the sixth grade. Ladies are additionally banned from most workplaces, and public areas like parks, gyms and salons below Taliban regulation.
Ms. Entwistle told the BBC that she and her siblings have been in a position to message their dad and mom for a couple of days after their arrest. Her dad and mom advised 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 remedy, after just lately affected by a stroke.
Mr. Reynolds, 79, and Ms. Reynolds, 75, have been engaged on a lot of instructional initiatives as part of Rebuild, a research and training company that they based in 2009. One program helped to show parenting abilities to moms, in response to their daughter. “The concept they’re being held as a result of they have been instructing moms with youngsters is outrageous,” Ms. Entwistle advised 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, printed months after the Taliban took management, Mr. Reynolds explains the sensible coaching they provide. Footage exhibits girls in head scarves and males collaborating in programs, together with “communication abilities” and administration coaching. In different clips, youngsters are proven apparently studying the alphabet.
The couple’s youngsters 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 youngsters wrote. “They’ve chosen Afghanistan as their house, reasonably than with household in England, they usually 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 got 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 supply additional particulars.
The international workplace advises in opposition to all journey to Afghanistan, pointing to a “heightened threat of British nationals being detained” and to the British authorities’s “extraordinarily restricted” capability to assist these in want of consular help, because it has no embassy or diplomatic relationship with the Taliban.
The USA additionally has no diplomatic representatives within the nation and has likewise warned in opposition to journey to Afghanistan by Americans. Plenty of Westerners have been detained within the nation because the Taliban seized management, and two Americans were freed in a prisoner swap in January.
Safiullah Padshah contributed reporting
