Abandoned Afghanistan, Are You Ok?
The people of Afghanistan
are feeling abandoned as they await international assistance following a
devastating earthquake and years of political turmoil. The ruling Taliban
recently requested financial aid from the United States of Americato alleviate
the pressures of post-disaster reconstruction, economic collapse, soaring
inflation rates and widespread famine, but citizens are still waiting to see if
President Joe Biden will reverse his country’s foreign policy position and
assist everyday people, including those who worked with US forces during the
war against the Taliban.
A 5.9 magnitude
earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of the morning on June
22, 2022. This was the deadliest earthquake since 1998, as it was approximately
6.2 miles deep and its tremors were felt across a 310-mile area.Before the
earthquake, the central Asian country was already facing one of the world’s
worst humanitarian crises, which has worsened since US forces withdrew in
mid-2021. Unfortunately, the country with the greatest ability to alleviate the
suffering of many Afghan people is the country least willing to deal with the
Taliban, and therein lies the problem.
Biden’s position is
complicated. Financial aid for Afghan citizens would be given to the Taliban,
as this group rules the country, but Biden is reluctant to help, or be seen to
help, a group regarded as a terrorist organisation in many parts of the world.
He might also face a severe political backlash among conservative forces and
anti-Islamic elements within the United States, a country already grappling
with Trump-inspired social division.
Ironically, it was under
Trump that the Taliban seized power. In 2020, the US-Taliban Agreementprompted
the eventual withdrawal of US and Allied forces. Shortly after its signing, the Taliban reportedly issued a religious
decree that outlined its plan to establish an Islamic government in Afghanistan
headed by the Taliban’s emir, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. The decree,
or fatwa, declared the violence would continue until the emir was ruler of
Afghanistan.It is in this context
that Biden must decide whether to send aid to the country.
Further complicating the
issue is the official US policy towards the Taliban. On July 6, 2022, Biden
declared his intention to formally revoke Afghanistan’s status as a ‘non-NATO
major ally’ of the United States. As a result of this position, Afghanistan
would no longer be eligible for US materials, supply loans and assistance in
the future –all elements which the earthquake victims and everyday people
desperately need.
Meanwhile, the citizens
of Afghanistan and the victims of the earthquake wait for help.
Multiple aid agencies,
such as the UnitedNations Development Program
(UNDP),fear for Afghanistan. They predict that by the middle of 2022,
Afghanistan could face “universal poverty,” with 97% of Afghans living below
the World Bank-designated international poverty line of $1.90 a day. What’s
more, the country has the world’s highest number of people in emergency food
insecurity, about 92%
of the population faces insufficient food consumption, and around 9.6 million
children are unable to secure food daily. This is why the Taliban is requesting
US aid.
In addition, more than half of the
24.4million inhabitants need some form of humanitarian assistance, especially
after the earthquake, in a country already living through the worst drought
emergency in more than 30 years. Such is the suffering of citizens that the
list of the most at risk people is very long, and includes those living in
poverty, minority groups, undocumented recent returnees, children, adolescent
girls, the elderly, households headed by women, people with disabilities, marginalized
ethnic groups and those exposed to forced, multiple and often extended periods
of displacement.
Afghan people are also
waiting for the United States to honour its promise. The US government promised
to secure green cards, and thus US citizenship, for people who assisted US and
Allied forces during the war against the Taliban. These everyday people and
civilians undertook these tasks, such as working as interpreters, at great risk
during the conflict, with the understanding of a green card, or at least that
their country would be ruled by a government friendly to the US and allies.
When the Taliban eventually seized control and the US forces left, many
citizens feared for their lives, and the lives of their families, as the
Taliban started punishing those who had worked with their enemy. Many of those
people were promised a new life in the United States, but have not yet been
granted citizenship.
A large number of these
people are currently stuck in the United Arab Emirates waiting to learn if they
will be given the green cards. If they return to Afghanistan, they fear greatly
for their fate at the hands of the Taliban, and are thus hoping to live the
rest of their lives safely in the US. The question is, will they be given what
they were promised, and if so, when?
Political considerations
are stalling the repatriation and rebuilding process. Specifically, the Taliban
is requesting that the US return frozen Afghan overseas assets and return about
$US7 billion, which would greatly assist in helping those with immediate needs,
and go towards rebuilding the nation in the long term. They also argue that the
dire state of the nation’s infrastructure can be directly attributed to the
damage inflicted during the extended US-led war, and that the US and their allies
have an obligation to contribute to the rebuilding of the country.
The people of Afghanistan
continue to suffer. They are living through the impact of a devastating
earthquake which only worsened the suffering caused by existing social and
political turmoil, extended drought, widespread poverty, religious extremism,
economic collapse, soaring inflation rates and the rule of the Taliban. They
have turned to the international community for help and have asked the United
States to release assets and contribute money to alleviating the immediate
daily hardship of thousands of people and to begin the rebuilding of the
nation. Everyday people in Afghanistan can only wait to see if they will be
helped or abandoned.
Comments
There are 0 comments on this post