Unfreeze Afghanistan’s reserves, UN experts asks US

KABUL (Pajhwok): UN human rights experts have urged the United States to end its freeze on Afghanistan’s foreign reserves.

Afghanistan’s central bank has more than $7 billion in blocked reserves that could be used to provide humanitarian relief to tens of millions of Afghans.

In February, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order to continue the freeze on the cash and use part of the funds for purposes within the US.

In a statement, the UN experts admitted the humanitarian exemptions to Afghan sanctions, agreed by the UN Security Council last December, had led to no significant progress in financial or commercial aid to Afghanistan.

Many foreign banks were concerned about breaching restrictions, added the experts, gravely concerned about the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The current situation “puts at serious risk the lives of more than half of the country’s population”, the group warned.

They asked states to re-assess any unilateral measure and remove all obstacles to providing the necessary financial and humanitarian aid.

The experts noted the uncertainty caused by banks’ zero-risk policies and over-compliance with sanctions had left humanitarian actors facing serious operational challenges.

The US executive order could exacerbate the climate of uncertainty among relevant actors…resulting in over-zealous compliance with sanctions, preventing Afghans from access to basic humanitarian goods, they said.

The US was asked to seriously consider the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and re-assess its decision to block the Da Afghanistan Bank’s foreign assets.

The US sanctioned the Taliban government when it came back to power in 2021, almost after two decades.

The US must find a balance between strict sanctions enforcement and humanitarian aid, the experts stressed.

PAN Monitor/mud