MPs urge Ottawa to help women lawmakers flee Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

Six Canadian MPs say the situation in Afghanistan is more dangerous by the day and the Taliban are controlling women with a "brutal gender apartheid system."

An all-party group of MPs is calling on the Canadian government to help Afghan women who were lawmakers before the Taliban takeover get to safety.

Police in Kabul said Sunday that former MP Mursal Nabizada and her bodyguard were shot dead by unknown attackers.

She was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in the capital city after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Six Canadian MPs say in a joint statement that they have worked together since last October to bring the nine remaining women to Canada.

They say the situation in Afghanistan is more dangerous by the day and the Taliban are controlling women with a “brutal gender apartheid system.”

The MPs say Canada has a moral responsibility to help the women flee the country.

“For the sake of the lives of these eight women, we urge the Canadian government to act on this matter urgently and take immediate action to assist in getting these women to safety,” the statement says.

The group includes Bloc Quebecois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, the Green Party’s Elizabeth May, the NDP’s Heather McPherson, the Conservatives’ Alex Ruff and the Liberals’ Marcus Powlowski and Leah Taylor Roy.