AUTHOR: TRIDIVESH SINGH MAINI, Senior Contributing Writer at GPC

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister while speaking at ‘Rome MED 2021 — Mediterranean Dialogues’ flagged the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and the need for the world community to help. He also said that no clarity has emerged concerning the Taliban Regime:

‘I think the situation in Afghanistan needs everybody’s help and needs the cooperation of the international community to work together collectively to help’.

The words by Qatar’s Foreign Minister came just days after French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to the Middle East that France and other European countries were going to establish a joint mission in Afghanistan. Macron was clear that this did not imply diplomatic recognition of the Taliban regime, and he also stated that other concerns needed to be sorted first, including the security of diplomats, before the EU could proceed.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO ASSIST AFGHANISTAN

In recent months, the global community has taken note of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. According to estimates, 23 million people – which amount to well over half of Afghanistan’s population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with 9 million steering at a famine. The humanitarian crisis is only likely to get worse as the winter approaches.

At a meeting organized by the UN in September 2021, the global community committed over 1 billion USD in assistance (G7 countries along with China committed 30 million USD in the form of assistance in September 2021 (China has also resumed a direct trade link in October 2021 with Afghanistan and).In a G20 meeting in Afghanistan, the EU committed an amount of 1 billion euros to assist the country in dealing with its socio-economic challenges.

In an important development, Indian humanitarian assistance (consisting of 50,000 tonnes of wheat and drugs) has been allowed by Pakistan to transit through its territory.

In September 2021, the US treasury also issued licenses to ensure that humanitarian aid from multilateral organizations and US Charities face no problems. Recently a Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister in the interim Taliban dispensation, Amir Khan Muttaqi met with U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and discussed a wide range of issues.

The US State Department Spokesperson reiterated the US commitment to providing humanitarian assistance and underscored the point that the US Treasury had issued general licenses to facilitate the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is demanding the release of over 9 Billion USD of assets from the Afghan central bank (largely held in the US Federal Reserve) which were frozen by the US. The Afghan delegation during the meeting while assuring the US of rights of minorities and women and security of aid workers asked for unfreezing of assets. A statement issued by the Taliban Spokesperson said after the meeting,

‘…urge immediate unconditional unfreezing of Afghan reserves, ending of sanctions & blacklists, & disconnecting humanitarian issues from political considerations’.

China and Iran have been repeatedly supporting the demand for the release of assets. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lijian in a media briefing last month said that assets should be released immediately since they were worsening the humanitarian disaster and common Afghans were suffering. He also dubbed the freezing of assets as a tool of coercion.

CONCLUSION

Following the Taliban takeover, the IMF and World Bank suspended aid as well as over $300 million in reserves held by the IMF. The World Bank is attempting to give 500 million USD to humanitarian groups from a frozen fund, which may come as a relief to Afghanistan.

The interim Taliban government has made it clear that it wants commercial relations and connectivity with all countries, and while it has lauded China for its assistance and emphasized the importance of China’s role in the country’s economic development, it does not want to be reliant on any one country. While expressing its concerns, the international community must be pragmatic and flexible, prioritizing humanitarian issues and the welfare of the Afghan people.

To summarise, while it is critical for the Taliban to keep its promises to the international community regarding the safety of minorities and women, as well as providing representation to all communities, the international community must also take a more proactive role in assisting Afghanistan in dealing with its humanitarian crisis.

Countries, particularly the US and China, must look beyond their rivalries and avoid viewing things through a zero-sum lens. Multilateral organizations must step forward, and while words from the World Bank and the European Union are positive, more must be done. Along with the US, China, and Afghanistan’s neighbors, as well as the EU is likely to play a key role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, particularly if a joint mission is established. While there will be plenty of opportunities for geopolitical squabbling in Afghanistan, the focus should be on humanitarian challenges for the time being.

*“The views expressed in the article are author’s personal and is not endorsed by the Global Policy Consortium (GPC) or assumed by their members”