Taliban arrest British couple in their 70s for teaching mothers

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, both aged in their 70s, had been teaching mothers parenting skills in Afghanistan after falling in love with the country. Their children now fear for their safety.

British couple Peter and Barbie Reynolds have been arrested by the Taliban.

A British couple in their seventies have been arrested by the Taliban, apparently for teaching parenting skills to mothers over 30.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who loved Afghanistan so much that they married in Kabul in 1970 after meeting at Bath University, have been running training projects in schools there for 18 years and stayed after the Taliban’s sudden return to power in 2021.

Barbie Reynolds even became the first woman to receive a certificate of appreciation from the Taliban.

But on February 1 the couple were arrested when returning to their home in Bamiyan province with a Chinese-American friend, Faye Hall, who had rented a private plane to fly back from Kabul with them. They have been detained ever since.

Initially they were in touch by text message with their four children, telling them they were being held by the interior ministry and assuring them they were fine. But after three days the texts stopped and the children have heard nothing since.

“This is really bad,” their daughter Sarah Entwistle, from Daventry, Northamptonshire, told The Sunday Times. “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and [he] needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”

Entwistle and her three brothers have written an open letter to the Taliban leadership, pleading with them to release their parents so they can continue their work and pointing out that they had been given dual citizenship.

“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they wrote. “They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”

The couple had been running projects in five schools in Kabul on participatory learning and learning through play, as well as programmes in communication skills. One project in Bamiyan was training mothers and children, which had apparently been approved by the local authorities despite a Taliban ban on women working and on female education beyond primary school.

Women’s rights has been one of the biggest casualties since the Taliban regained power of Afghanistan following the US’s exit of the country.

When the Taliban seized power in August 2021 and most westerners fled, many begged the couple to leave but they insisted on staying, even as all their staff left. “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need,” Entwistle said.

Instead they managed to convince a group of 65 senior Taliban to listen to their presentation on training teachers in schools through active participatory learning.

“The Taliban leaders were so impressed and inspired by the programmes Mum and Dad were offering, they said they would like them set up in every province of Afghanistan,” Entwistle said. “Mum was the first woman to receive ‘a certificate of appreciation’ from the Taliban.”

Since the Taliban took power they have imposed dozens of restrictions on women, banning them from parks, gyms, beauty salons, workplaces and even appearing at windows. Recently they stopped the training of midwives. Afghanistan is seen as the worst place on earth for women and Britain has joined a case at the International Court of Justice bringing proceedings against the Taliban for gender discrimination.

Entwistle insisted that her parents had done nothing without permission. “They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing,” she said.

Employees and associates have apparently been questioned about whether the couple were engaging in religious proselytising, but all denied this. “They are very definitely not missionaries,” Entwistle said.

The family is in touch with the Foreign Office but assistance is limited by the fact that the UK does not recognise the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.

Entwistle said her parents had always told them they would never want to be part of any negotiations.

“We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations,” she and her siblings wrote in their letter. “However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.”

THE TIMES