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Afghanistan’s new media law sent to supreme leader for approval
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told ArianaNews on Friday that the country’s new draft media law was compiled and sent to the supreme leader for approval.
Mujahid emphasized that all media principles have been observed in this law.
He said that this law will be made available to all media outlets after its ratification in the next few days, and according to this law, all foreign and international media will be allowed to operate in Afghanistan, but on the condition of observing the internal laws of Afghanistan.
“The media law has reached the presence of the supreme leader and is under ratification, the law will be good, and after it is ratified, it will be available to the media, and all media principles have been observed in this law,” Mujahid told ArianaNews.
A number of organizations that support the media and journalists meanwhile say that the media law should be approved immediately because, according to them, dealing with the problems of the media and journalists in the absence of the law is facing many difficulties.
“Although it is said that there have been very small adjustments in this law, in any case, existence law of any kind is more important than the absence of a law for the Afghan media, and we expect that this law will be implemented in the promised time and that Afghan broadcasters will be able to continue broadcasting within the framework of a law,” said Hujatullah Mujadadi, a member of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union.
Simultaneously, some media workers see the approval of this law as a positive step towards obtaining accurate information and journalistic work, adding that the implementation of this law can be effective in solving journalistic problems.
“For two years, we journalists have been operating in Afghanistan without any law, which unfortunately has made our work very difficult. We call on the Islamic Emirate to ratify the public media law as soon as possible so that the media and journalists know the framework of their activities and can operate on the basis of that law,” said Nasir Ahmad Salehi, a journalist.
“There should be a law that defends the rights of journalists and that our journalists are not unjustly punished in the provinces, Kabul and other cities,” said Sudabe Nazhand, a journalist.
About a year ago, the officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture declared the previous government’s mass media law to be enforceable, but the new media law is being approved while some journalists and officials of media-supporting institutions have criticized the authorities of the Islamic Emirate, adding that this law is one-sided and their suggestions, especially the views of women, have not been heard.
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Ghori State Cement in Baghlan increases production
Officials at Ghori State Cement in Baghlan province say the amount of cement produced at this plant has increased compared to the past.
According to company officials, 150,000 tons of cement was produced in 1402 [solar year] and they are trying to increase the amount to 180,000 tons this year.
“Last year, we successfully produced 150,000 tons of cement and sold it to the market. Fortunately, in 1402, we had more than 200 million afghanis in revenue,” said Abdul Wakil Qayumi, financial and administrative deputy of the company.
The plant officials stated that efforts are underway to increase the production capacity, and with the increase of the production capacity, they will produce 1000 bags of cement per day.
“Currently, our four ovens are active, and we produce approximately 1,000 to 1,200 tons of cement in twenty-four hours,” said Mohammad Tahir, packaging manager for the company.
In this company, jobs are created for 750 individuals, and some workers have asked the traders to invest in the country and provide work for young people.
“Some more factories should be built in our country so that less foreign cement is imported into the country and we use our own products,” said one of the company workers.
Ghori Baghlan Cement Company was established about 40 years ago and is considered one of the largest cement production companies in Afghanistan.
The management of this company is carried out by the National Development Corporation (NDC).
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Regional countries should jointly expand stability and development: Deputy PM
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, Political Deputy Prime Minister, has said in a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan in Kabul that regional countries should play their role in the implementation of large regional projects.
Kabir also invited Kazakh businessmen to invest in Afghanistan, his office said in a statement.
He added that the Islamic Emirate fully controls Afghanistan’s borders, has eliminated drugs and corruption, and restored national sovereignty.
According to the statement, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin appreciated the progress made by the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan and said that his country is ready for long-term trade, transit and investment relations with Afghanistan.
Zhumangarin expressed his country’s readiness to grant scholarships to Afghan youth and added that Afghanistan is currently an example of a peaceful country in the region, and due to this, the world wants to establish relations with the Islamic Emirate in various fields.
He also called for the start of direct flights between Kabul and Almaty and said that his country is ready for bilateral cooperation with the Afghan government in the cultural field.
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Red Cross official seeks ‘staggered’ return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan
A senior Red Cross official has called for the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to occur “in a more staggered way” so Afghanistan can better absorb them.
“It will be important to work with the government of Pakistan in 2024 to ask that if there are going to be returnees,” that they arrive “in smaller numbers at a time just so it is more manageable on the Afghan side,” said Alexander Matheou, regional director, Asia Pacific Region for the International Federation of the Red Cross, Voice of America (VOA) reported on Saturday.
Speaking in the Qatari capital, Doha, Matheou told journalists on Friday the challenges facing Afghan returnees from Pakistan was one of several pressing issues he discussed with the officials of the Islamic Emirate in Kabul.
“You will be aware that over half a million have crossed the border over recent months, and it is likely that we will see large numbers of new arrivals in the coming months,” he said.
“I imagine this is probably the largest population flow in a short period of time in Asia since the population movement from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017,” he added. “So, it is a significant event.”
Since October, Pakistan has expelled more than 500,000 Afghan refugees who lacked proper documentation.
Matheou noted many of the returnees have lived in Pakistan for decades and are ill-equipped to begin a new life in a country that to them is unknown, without government or international support.
He described the returnees as being in generally poor health, especially the children, who account for nearly half of all returnees.
“The evidence of that was we visited clinics where they reported a real spike in cases of acute malnutrition coming from the arrivals from Pakistan.
“We visited routine immunization programs of the IFRC and the Afghan Red Crescent in the villages, and there it was clear looking at the children that as well as being anemic, you could see wasting and stunting among the children,” he said.
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