Many Afghans at risk in next year, Red Cross says
Group expects hunger, poverty to worsen in aid-dependent nation.
KABUL — More Afghans will be struggling for survival as living conditions deteriorate in the year ahead, a top official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an interview, as the country braces for its second winter under Taliban rule.
The religious group’s seizure of power in August 2021 sent the economy into a tailspin and fundamentally transformed Afghanistan, driving millions into poverty and hunger as foreign aid stopped almost overnight.
“The economic hardship is there. It’s very serious, and people will struggle for their lives,” Martin Schuepp, director of operations at the Red Cross, said in an interview late Sunday.
Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and billions of dollars in frozen government currency reserves have restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country’s aiddependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.
Winter will compound the acute humanitarian needs that half the population is already facing, Schuepp noted.
“Prices are spiking due to a whole set of reasons, but also the issue of sanctions has led to massive consequences,” he said. “We see more and more Afghans who are having to sell their belongings to make ends meet, where they have to buy materials for heating while at the same time have to face increasing costs for food and other essential items.”
Sanctions are a challenge to getting aid and necessary supplies to the country in a timely fashion. It is key that all sanctions have humanitarian exemptions so that organizations like the Red Cross can continue their work, he said.
The Red Cross is paying the salaries of 10,500 medical workers every month to ensure that basic healthcare services stay afloat in Afghanistan, he added.
“We are very conscious that it’s not our primary role to pay for salaries of medical staff. As a humanitarian organization, we are not best placed to do that,” Schuepp said. “We have done so exceptionally to ensure that services continue to be provided.”
Schuepp, making his first visit to Afghanistan as director of operations since the Taliban takeover, said the agency was feeding most of the country’s prison population. He was unable immediately to say how many prisoners there were.
“Today, about 80% of the prison population benefits from such food support,” he said.
He described the Red Cross’ role as a “stopgap measure” that became necessary after the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government when Washington began its final withdrawal of troops in August 2021.
No country in the world has recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban calls its administration, leaving the war-ravaged nation internationally isolated.
The religious group previously ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s and was overthrown by a U.S. invasion in 2001.