29/09/2026
🎬 The Secret Reading Club of Afghanistan
En ny dokumentärfilm om afghanska flickors och kvinnors villkor i talibanernas Afghanistan visas idag i EU-parlamentet.
I maj 2026 röstade EU-parlamentet med stor tydlighet mot att erkänna talibanstyret i Afghanistan. Några veckor senare sitter representanter för regimen i Bryssel i möten med EU för att skapa förutsättningar att deportera människor till Afghanistan. Sverige var en starkt pådrivande kraft i att mötet ägde rum.
❗Håll utkik för när den här filmen kommer att visas. Tipsa gärna om när och var filmen kommer att visas.
I’m honoured to bring Afghan women's voices to the European Parliament. 🎬
Next week I’m hosting "Afghanistan at a Crossroads" panel discussion and screening of The Secret Reading Club of Kabul in the European Parliament.
This isn't just another film screening. It's a chance to put Afghan women's reality directly in front of EU decision-makers, at a moment when the Union is sending mixed signals: reaffirming non-recognition of the Taliban with an overwhelming vote in May, while weeks later Taliban representatives were invited to Brussels for talks on returns, with Finland represented at official level.
The film itself is an act of extraordinary courage. Filmed in secret by young Afghan women living under Taliban rule, it documents a hidden reading club inspired by Anne Frank. Women risking their lives to read, write, and bear witness to their own lives. The footage includes raids on hidden schools and women arrested for practicing martial arts. One protagonist had to flee after being targeted by the Taliban.
This film exists because of the extraordinary work of its directors, Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen. Shakiba grew up under the first Taliban regime and became the first woman to appear on Afghan television, before being forced to flee the country twice. Through this film she returns to give voice to a new generation of women facing the same oppression. Together with Elina, an award-winning human rights filmmaker, they have shown remarkable courage in bringing these hidden stories to the world.
Afghan women and girls are living under what is now widely described as the world's most extreme system of gender apartheid. The women who made this film didn't just risk arrest, they risked their lives, so the world could not say we didn't know.
That's why it matters that we watch, listen, and above all, act.
I welcome all my colleagues to join me on Tuesday 29th with Afghan human rights defender, journalist and director of the Conflict Analysis Network Horia Mosadiq, directors Shakiba Adil & Elina Hirvonen, and video greetings from MEP colleague Abir Alsahlani.