Wellington: New Zealand Journalist Pregnant said he turned to the Taliban to ask for help and is now stranded in Afghanistan after his home country prevents it back because of the obstacles of the people in the Coronavirus quarantine system.
In the column published in New Zealand Herald on Saturday, Charlotte Bellis said it was “brutally ironic” that he had questioned the Taliban about their treatment of women and he now asks the same question about his own government.
“When Taliban offers you – a woman who is pregnant and unmarried – Safe Haven, you know your situation is a mess,” Bellis wrote in his column.
Response Minister Covid-19 New Zealand, Chris Hipkins told Herald, his office had asked officials to check whether they followed the right procedure in the case of Bellis, “which appeared at first glance to explore further explanations.” New Zealand has succeeded in maintaining the spread of the virus to a minimum as long as the pandemic and has reported only 52 virus deaths among the population of 5 million.
But the nation’s need that even returned residents spent 10 days isolated in the quarantine run by the military had caused thousands of deposits of people who wanted to go home to vote.
The stories of citizens stranded abroad in a terrible condition have caused shame for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and his government, but Bellis’s situation was very striking.
Last year, he worked for Al Jazeera which included the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan when he received international attention by questioning the Taliban leaders on their treatment of women and girls.
In the column on Saturday, Bellis said he returned to Qatar in September and found him pregnant with his partner, a freelance photographer Jim Huylebroek, contributors in the New York Times.
He described the pregnancy as a “miracle” after being notified by the doctor, he could not have children.
He will give birth to a girl in May.
Illegal extramal sex in Qatar and Bellis said he realized that he needed to go.
He repeatedly tried to return to New Zealand in the lottery style system to restore citizens but without results.
He said he resigned from Al Jazeera in November and the couple moved to the original Belgium Huylebroek.
But he can’t stay long, he said, because he’s not a resident.
He said the only other place to have a life visa was Afghanistan.
Bellis said he spoke with the Taliban senior contact who told him that he would be fine if he returned to Afghanistan.
“Tell people, you are married and if it increases, contact us.
Don’t worry,” Bellis said, they told him.
He said he sent 59 documents to the authority of New Zealand in Afghanistan but they rejected the application for emergency refunds.
Chris Bunny, the combined head of the New Zealand and Quarantine System, told Herald that the Bellis emergency application was not in accordance with the requirements he traveled in 14 days.
He said the staff had reached Bellis about making other applications that fit the requirements.
“This is not unusual and is an example of a team that is beneficial for New Zealand in a troublesome situation,” Bunny wrote.
Bellis said that pregnancy can be a death sentence in Afghanistan because of poor pregnancy care conditions and lack of surgical abilities.
He said that after talking with lawyers, politicians, and public relations in New Zealand, the case seemed to move forward again, even though he had not been approved home.
Rejected by New Zealand, reporter turned to the Taliban to ask for help
