Wellington: A pregnant journalist from New Zealand has been denied re-entry to her home country to give birth due to strict COVID-19 rules and says she has been offered asylum by the Afghan Taliban.
"It feels like such a breach of trust," Charlotte Bayliss told Radio New Zealand from Kabul on Sunday. Bayliss was working for Al Jazeera in Afghanistan, but said she didn't realize she was pregnant until she was at the media company's headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
It is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Qatar, so Bellis kept her pregnancy a secret as she prepared to return to New Zealand. When asked that she did not qualify for exemption under New Zealand's strict COVID border controls, Bellis said she called senior Taliban contacts and was told she could give birth there.
"We're happy for you, you can come and you won't have any problems," Bellis said in an interview about what the Taliban told him. He also said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine," she told the New Zealand Herald.
“In my time of need, the New Zealand government said you are not welcome here. "When the Taliban offers you - a pregnant, unmarried woman - safe haven, you know your situation is messed up". Bellis, who once questioned the Taliban about what they would do to ensure the rights of women and girls, said it was "brutally ironic" that she was now asking her government the same question.
After going public about his position and involving lawyers, Bayliss said he was contacted by New Zealand officials, who said his rejected application was being reviewed. The government's COVID Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement that he had asked officials to examine whether due procedures were followed in Bellis's case, "which at first glance appeared to warrant further clarification".
Faced with the outbreak of the Omicron version, New Zealand recently scrapped plans to ease entry for returning citizens and instead closed its borders - except in emergency cases - without any existing quarantine bookings. also for.