WELLINGTON – Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis, who is unmarried andexpecting a child, said the Taliban offered her refuge in the war-ravagedcountry as strict quarantine rules barred her to return homeland.
The distressed female journalist in a column in *New Zealand Herald* said“it was ‘brutally ironic’ that she once questioned the Taliban about theirtreatment of women and she was now asking the same questions of her owngovernment”.
Taliban-led administration offered refuge to the woman journalist as shecalled for help. She has been working for an international newsorganization in Afghanistan, where her photographer partner is also based.
Bellis was reportedly unaware about the pregnancy until she returned toDoha and it is illegal to conceive a child being unmarried, so she kept thepregnancy secret as she prepared to return to the Oceanian country.
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Reports claimed that Bellis was not qualified for an exemption under strictCovid-enforced by NZ to curb virus spread. Bellis after sharing her ordealsaid she had been contacted by New Zealand officials who said her rejectedapplication was under review.
As per the rules enforced by New Zealand, citizens, who are looking toreturn, need to spend 10 days in isolation in military-run hotels. Thestern directives have led to a backlog of thousands of people wanting toreturn home vying for spots.
