Editorial Desk :
Wrapping up a three-day visit, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has said Afghanistan needs urgent and sustained support from the international community to prevent a larger humanitarian crisis. “The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains desperate. If public services and the economy collapse, we will see even greater suffering, instability, and displacement both within and outside the country,” he said on Wednesday in a statement.
Currently, we see the ‘wait and see’ policy of the global community on recognising the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has made the situation more critical. This lengthy observation policy is delaying stability and peace in the war-torn country. Though hunger and poverty have forced many Afghans to come out of their homes, the present Afghan authorities have not yet facilitated sufficient cash flow or ensure enough jobs for the needy people. Right now, a half of (around 4 crore) the Afghan population needs urgent humanitarian aid.
Apart from them, millions of others who were previous government’s supporters have become homeless being evicted by the Taliban. Their sufferings are much greater than others. However, there is a little good news. The central bank of Afghanistan has said that Taliban have handed over US$12 million seized from homes of ex-officials. Actually, the money was seized from high civil officials and businessmen by the Taliban. But this poor amount of money wouldn’t help solve the crisis. The head of UN mission in Afghanistan Deborah Lyons has met Afghanistan’s new interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was for years one of the world’s most wanted Islamist militants, to find a getaway for ongoing humanitarian crisis. We believe the global community should take a quick step to get engaged with Afghanistan in a bid to prevent a greater humanitarian catastrophe.
If the Afghanistan crisis gets more critical, it will not only have an adverse impact regionally but also create complications across the globe. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also told an international aid conference this week that Afghans are facing “perhaps their most perilous hour”. Donors at the conference pledged more than $1.1 billion to help Afghanistan. But it is not sure when the donation would be available for Afghan people. The situation in the country is so uncertain that the Afghanistan’s national women’s football team members have fled to Pakistan and sought political asylum there.
The Taliban is now claiming that everything is in order. They are saying that every Afghan, including women, journalists, civil rights activists and political opponents, are safe under the Taliban’s rule. The Taliban are asking people not to leave Afghanistan. But the reality is that tens of thousands of Afghans have now entered the USA. Some others have found their places in European countries. Afghan diplomats who were working at different missions across the world are now literally begging as they are not getting salaries.
Humanitarian aid should have nothing to with recognising the Taliban government.
