DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it hosted a joint “labor committee” meeting with Taliban representatives in Doha on Wednesday. The session focused on recent developments in labor relations between the two sides, according to a statement from the ministry.
The meeting was co-chaired by Sheikha Najwa bint Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s Deputy Minister of Labor, and Mohammad Amin Anis, head of labor deployment at the Taliban-led Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Taliban have previously reported holding discussions with Qatari officials about facilitating the migration of Afghan workers to Qatar. In Kabul, the Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs recently convened a meeting to address the “legal facilitation” of Afghan labor migration abroad, reportedly at the direction of Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
The Kabul meeting was chaired by Abdulmanan Omari, the Taliban’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, and attended by senior officials, including Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, Mohammad Nabi Omari, the deputy interior minister, and Abdul Qahar Idris, head of the Taliban’s statistics and information authority.
Despite such efforts, many Afghan citizens say job opportunities have significantly diminished since the Taliban’s return to power. Rising poverty and food insecurity have become pressing issues, with many families struggling to afford even one meal a day.
“Under the Taliban’s rule, hunger and poverty have expanded to unprecedented levels,” said one Kabul resident. Others shared similar concerns, emphasizing the growing pressures of unemployment and economic instability on daily life.
