A British couple who spent virtually twenty years working education schemes in Afghanistan have been detained by the Taliban earlier this month, their youngsters stated in interviews with a lot of British information shops.
The couple, Peter Reynolds and Barbie Reynolds, have been arrested on Feb. 1 when returning to their residence within the nation’s Bamiyan province, in response to accounts first given to The Sunday Instances of London. The pair, who’re of their 70s, have future a program that gives training and coaching in Afghanistan.
After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 2021 and the withdrawal of Western troops from the nation, Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Reynolds determined to remain regardless of the potential danger, in response to one in all their 4 youngsters.
“They have been simply attempting to assist the nation they cherished,” Sarah Entwistle, the couple’s eldest daughter, instructed The Sunday Instances.
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 training 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 instructed the BBC that she and her siblings have been in a position to message their dad and mom for a number of days after their arrest. Her dad and mom instructed them they have been being held by the inside ministry however have been superb, 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 a part of Rebuild, a analysis and coaching firm that they based in 2009. One program helped to show parenting expertise to moms, in response to their daughter. “The thought they’re being held as a result of they have been educating moms with youngsters is outrageous,” Ms. Entwistle instructed The Sunday Instances.
The couple’s connection to Afghanistan extends again to their youth. In line with their improvement firm’s web site, they married there greater than 50 years in the past. Rebuild is predicated in Kabul, however has packages throughout the nation.
“Beneath 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 reveals ladies in head scarves and males collaborating in programs, together with “communication expertise” 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 modify,” their youngsters wrote. “They’ve chosen Afghanistan as their residence, fairly 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 educating, 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 spokesperson for Britain’s Overseas 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 overseas workplace advises in opposition to all journey to Afghanistan, pointing to a “heightened danger of British nationals being detained” and to the British authorities’s “extraordinarily restricted” skill 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 in opposition to journey to Afghanistan by Americans. Quite a few Westerners have been detained within the nation for the reason that Taliban seized management, and two People have been freed in a prisoner swap in January.
Safiullah Padshah contributed reporting
