PROTESTERS called for safe routes for women and girls from Afghanistan to seek sanctuary in Britain as they marched through London today. 

Attendees chanted “women’s rights, human rights” and held banners reading “Education, Work, Freedom,” as they took part in the demonstration.

More than 40 civil society organisations were involved in the demo, organised by the Action for Afghanistan group, with co-ordinated marches also held in Washington DC and four cities in Canada, according to organisers. 

Protesters marched from Park Lane to Downing Street, where speakers including education rights activist Malala Yousafzai, her father Ziauddin, and former Afghan MP Fawsia Koofi addressed crowds.

The groups delivered a letter to PM Rishi Sunak urging him to support a global summit on Afghan women and girls. 

Ms Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban when she was teenager for campaigning for education rights for girls in Pakistan, said women in Afghanistan were being deprived of the “right to work, go to market without a male companion [and] to enjoy outside parks and gyms.

“Thousands of girls have been forced and sold into marriages,” she told crowds. 

Her father Ziauddin said the Taliban had “turned back on every promise they made” on women’s rights in the 15 months since seizing power in August 2021.

“We must stand in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan,” he said. 

The protest comes as the Taliban ramps up restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms, most recently banning women from parks and gyms. 

United Nations experts recently warned that the regime’s treatment of women could amount to crimes against humanity. 

Campaigners are calling for a bespoke route for vulnerable women and girls to seek asylum in Britain.

The government opened two schemes allowing Afghans to resettle in Britain.

However the schemes have come under intense scrutiny over criticism that the eligibility criteria is too stringent, resulting in vulnerable Afghans being left behind, while thousands of refugees remain stuck in hotels in Britain. 

Action for Afghanistan executive director Zehra Zaidi said a new route would give hope.

“They need to know people still care,” she said. “They need to know that allies like the UK government have not completely abandoned them.”