Taliban must meet international demands before sanctions end

The international community faces a dilemma in Afghanistan: the need to urgently address the growing humanitarian crisis, even though the Taliban have totally failed to meet international demands after their rapid takeover of the country. Here are the facts:

• The Afghan cabinet is entirely male, almost all Taliban, essentially Pashtun, excluding all other ethnic groups and all previous political actors.

• Terrorists have gained ground all over the country. ISIS is increasingly active, as their attacks are up from 60 in 2020 to 334 in 2021.

• Afghan women’s and girls’ fundamental rights and freedoms are severely curtailed – especially girls’ education and women’s right to work and their participation in major decision-making functions. The situation has been called a “gender apartheid.”

• House searches and killings of former government security personnel and officials have continued.

The humanitarian situation under the Taliban rule is indeed critical. The pandemic and years of drought have taken their toll, and financial sanctions have paralyzed the economy. After the Taliban took power on August 15, the U.S. blocked access to about $9 billion in Afghan’s Central Bank reserves held in the U.S. in order to prevent the Taliban’s access to those funds. Two days later, the European Union suspended development funding that had supported health care, law enforcement, and agriculture projects. The next day, the International Monetary Fund stopped payment of over $400 million in funds, and after a few days the World Bank, too, stopped disbursement of aid money to the Taliban that had been earmarked for the country. Reportedly, salaries have not been paid for months.

The U.N. Secretary-general had warned, “with assets frozen and with development aid paused, the economy is breaking down.” The Taliban are now facing that grim reality.

This month, the U.N Development Program stated that the country is “facing the worst humanitarian disaster” ever witnessed, noting that 97% of the 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty. This trend is no longer limited to the rural areas as the urban areas are now suffering as well. According to the World Food Program, which is providing assistance to many vulnerable families in the country, almost 24 million people in Afghanistan – more than 60% of the population – currently face acute hunger.

The World Health Organization has reported that without the World Bank’s support, health facilities are not fully functional, although the U.N. Development Program is now managing some of facilities.

The Taliban seek foreign recognition, unfreezing of foreign reserves, and termination of sanctions. The United States has been urged to release frozen assets to Afghanistan and there are calls for easing of financial sanctions on the country. There is a suggestion that private-sector production, employment, and trade should be relieved from sanctions.

Clearly, the priority is to save Afghan lives and to meet basic human needs. Also, the freefall of the economy must be halted. Tens of millions need food and basic health services, especially the extremely poor and highly vulnerable groups, including women and girls, rural communities affected by the drought, and internally displaced Afghans.

The U.S. has allowed humanitarian assistance for “basic human needs” since late September. But, without the functioning of the banking system, the economy cannot survive. Withdrawals from bank accounts are strictly limited and are paid out only in Afghanis; hence, liquidity remains a major challenge. The Taliban’s foreign ministry has acknowledged in a recent statement that “currently, the fundamental challenge of our people is financial security.”

The Taliban’s actions speak louder than their words. If they haven’t gotten the message thus far, they must: that without meeting the international demands they will neither have sanctions lifted nor granted recognition by governments and admission in the United Nations, which they desperately seek.

Ved Nanda is Distinguished University Professor and director of the Ved Nanda Center for International Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.