Taliban authorities shut down the TV station on December 4 after the PVPV accused the channel of being supported by exiled media and of betraying Islamic values
An Afghan TV station resumed operations Saturday, its leadership said, after being shut down in December by the Taliban morality ministry. Seals placed on Arezo TV’s doors in Kabul were removed in the presence of the country’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV), said station head Bassir Abid, who reported that the outlet had “resumed our operations.”
Taliban authorities shut down the TV station on December 4 after the PVPV accused the channel of being supported by exiled media and of betraying Islamic values. Seven of Arezo TV’s employees were arrested but released later in December, while the media outlet remained shuttered. The Taliban government has not yet indicated the reason the station was allowed to reopen.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), a press freedom group, welcomed the reopening but said in a statement it considered the closure “a flagrant violation of free media rights that should not have happened.”
The channel, founded in 2006 in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, opened an office in Kabul in 2010 to produce wildlife documentaries and dub Turkish series, according to AFJC. Afghanistan’s media sector has dramatically shrunk under three years of the Taliban government, while international monitors have criticized Kabul’s new rulers for allegedly trampling reporters’ rights. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the country’s Taliban authorities closed at least 12 media outlets in 2024.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has previously said there are no restrictions on journalists, as long as they “consider the national interest and Islamic values and avoid spreading rumors.” In early February, Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities raided well-known women’s radio station Radio Begum in Kabul and suspended its broadcasts.
Hundreds of Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan and Iran
Around 613 Afghan migrant families returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran between February 21-28, local media in Kabul reported on Saturday.
The data cited by Afghanistan’s Amu TV revealed that Iran expelled 501 families while Pakistan deported 112, either forcibly or voluntarily.
Earlier this week, speaking to TOLO news, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Afghanistan, Arafat Jamal stated that over 2.1 million Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan in 2024.
Commenting on the forced deportation and expulsion from Pakistan and Iran, Jamal said, “We should be able to set with those countries, and with Afghanistan, to make sure that they come home in a systematic manner and in a manner that contributes to stability, to economic growth and to peace inside Afghanistan, this is our appeal.”
He further urged authorities to treat people with dignity and make sure that those who want to go home are doing so voluntarily. If their movement is not organised and contributes to stability, then it will have a situation of chaos on both sides of the border.
Zakiullah Muhammadi, an Afghan University professor, said that historical grievances between Afghanistan and these two countries will deepen and could even lead to conflict if the deportation process is not halted or a proper framework is not established to ensure the dignified return of Afghans.
Fleeing from war and conflict in their homeland, migrants from Afghanistan have taken refuge mainly in Pakistan and Iran for decades now. The return of the Afghan refugees amidst the rising food crisis and instability in Afghanistan will further add to their dilemma. These Afghan refugees, who are either expelled or forcibly deported, also faced severe abuse and harassment in Pakistan.
