Continued US freeze on Afghanistan 9.5 billion dollars as well as Treasury Department’s sanctions on Afghan banks’ international business is threatening not only to starve millions of Afghans but also trigger the collapse of the banking sector because of the liquidity crunch. In a warning after the January 24 conference between the Taliban and special envoys of leading western countries, the Norwegian Refugee Council says the US curbs must end to prevent the worst ever humanitarian crisis, writes Imtiaz Gul.
A joint statement by the US-led western countries “……noted the importance of increasing cash liquidity and support to the banking sector to help stabilize the Afghan economy. Participants further pressed for the development of a transparent, sound strategy to restore confidence in the financial sector.”
The Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the three-day talks as “serious” and “genuine” but denied they were tantamount to legitimizing the regime in Kabul.
“It’s no act of recognition. It’s a mere framework to address them … passing clear messages to the Taliban and also listing (international) expectations and listening back what they have as messages,” the Norwegian prime minister said. “So this is, I believe, a measure that makes it possible to hold those who hold power in Afghanistan accountable.”
Formalities and pleasantries aside, these talks did little in extricating Afghanistan from the financial collapse that stems from the US sanctions on Afghan funds and the country’s international banking business.
A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) immediately after the Oslo meeting dampened the optimism the gathering had generated.
“The unresolved liquidity crisis is a key driver in what is becoming the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world. Aid agencies recently called for USD 4.4 billion for starving Afghans – the biggest call of its kind in the history of humanitarian work. But unless the US Treasury and other Western financial authorities enable us to transfer the aid money, we will be forced to work with our hands tied, unable to get that money to the communities who desperately need it,” warned Jan Egeland, NRC’s Secretary-General in a statement, released January 27.
The NRC report flew in the face of all the nice talk that happened during and after the Oslo meeting. It will be impossible to reach millions of people who need assistance, unless the US Treasury and other donor agencies take immediate action to enable banks to facilitate humanitarian financial transfers, and support the Afghan central bank to resume its key functions, it said.
The situation in Afghanistan is worsening by the day with 23 million people facing acute hunger, the near-total collapse of many public services, and the likelihood of near countrywide poverty in 2022.
While measures such as humanitarian licenses and exemptions to sanctions are crucial steps, they alone are not enough to get aid to where it is most needed, said the NRC.
“Banks need legal clarity and incentives to facilitate financial transfers to aid groups. Aid agencies also need to be able to withdraw that money once it reaches their accounts in Kabul. This is critical given the Afghan economy is in free fall, local banks are on the brink of collapse, and an acute shortage of banknotes in circulation warned the NRC.
More than 8 out of 10 aid workers in Afghanistan surveyed for the NRC report said it was “critical” or “urgent” to have the international bank transfers unblocked. The same number said that limits on cash withdrawals were also seriously hampering their ability to work in the country.
“The US and European governments risk setting aid organizations up to fail and are putting millions of lives at risk. They need to not only support banks to allow transfers of much-needed funds into Afghanistan but also put in place long overdue measures to allow aid agencies to withdraw those funds once they reach the country,” said Egeland.
Women’s education and employment remain some of the sticking points in the Taliban’s conversation with the international community. Almost every country is demanding the same as well as inclusivity before even thinking about granting recognition to the regime in Kabul.
Tomas Niklasson, EU’s special envoy to Afghanistan, also held a separate meeting with the Taliban delegated and said in a tweet he had “underlined the need for primary and secondary schools to be accessible for boys and girls throughout the country when the school year starts in March.”
The new Afghan education year begins mid-March and this will test the Taliban commitment to female education.
Will the return of all females to education help in getting the Taliban closer to international recognition? Or, at least get them access to their frozen funds and at least partially restore their international banking to prevent the humanitarian crisis because of the liquidity crunch?
The Taliban, so is the expectation by all major countries, shall also have to prove their commitment to counter-terrorism by directly taking on all terrorist outfits supposed to be operating from Afghan soil. Pakistan, China, Russia, the US, and several other countries have direct concerns about terrorism originating from Afghanistan. This, too, is like a litmus test of the Taliban’s resolve not to allow any terrorist group to use Afghan soil against another country.
