ACTION ALERT: US Sanctions and the Afghan Famine
Cole Harrison / Massachusetts Peace Action
(December 9, 2021) — After 20 years of torturing Afghanistan with bombs, drones and occupying forces, the United States is now contributing “human-made” famine in Afghanistan.
Some progressive members of Congress are speaking out on the issue. That’s critical because most people in the US — and even some members of Congress — know very little about this issue.
The United States, seeking to punish the Taliban for their takeover in Afghanistan, is using its power to freeze critical aid and funds including the funds in the Afghanistan Central Bank. Humanitarian relief providers and human rights groups are calling on the US to end this practice as the economy in Afghanistan crumbles and many Afghans go hungry.
This is partially a continuation of the chronic US overuse of sanctions. As you know, too often the US seeks to target an authoritarian government and ends up punishing civilians. But in this case the US is not only sanctioning Afghanistan, it is also freezing $9.5 billion dollars of Afghan government funds held in US banks at a time that the Afghan people need resources and the Afghan economy is failing.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has issued a Congressional letter calling on the Biden administration to end the US policies doing the most harm in Afghanistan. Ask your Representative to join her letter!
By blocking transfers from the roughly $9.5 billion in Afghanistan Central Bank accounts in the US the Biden administration is starving the Afghan economy of oxygen. The Taliban are brutal and oppressive, and the administration may need to map out a strategy to deal with that. But destroying the entire nation’s economy is not the way to address that.
Many Afghans and aid organizations on the ground are asking the US to take a more compassionate path. Cratering the Afghan economy, which is what many economists worry is happening, doesn’t just target the Taliban. It destabilizes the entire country and harms the health and wellbeing of millions.
Winter is always harsh in Afghanistan. But the pictures of suffering and deprivation coming out of Afghanistan right now — in early December — are heartbreaking. Tell your House Representative that US foreign policy should not include starving a whole nation because we have issues with the government that took over when we left Afghanistan.
Call Today: US Policy & Afghan Famine
Jon Rainwater / Peace Action
(December 9, 2021) — A couple of weeks ago I wrote to you about the “human-made” famine in Afghanistan that US policy is contributing to.[1] Many of you responded to our call to action. Thank you! Our campaign is building momentum, and reaching key policymakers, because of our members’ efforts.
Thanks to the hearing from you, along with other concerned constituents, some progressive members of Congress are speaking out on the issue. That’s critical because most people in the US — and even some members of Congress _ know very little about this issue.
The United States, seeking to punish the Taliban for their takeover in Afghanistan, is using its power to freeze critical aid and funds including the funds in the Afghanistan Central Bank. Humanitarian relief providers and human rights groups are calling on the US to end this practice as the economy in Afghanistan crumbles and many Afghans go hungry.
This is partially a continuation of the chronic US overuse of sanctions. As you know, too often the US seeks to target an authoritarian government and ends up punishing civilians. But in this case the US is actually not just sanctioning Afghanistan, it is freezing $9.5 billion dollars of Afghan funds at a time that the Afghan people need resources and the Afghan economy is failing.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) has issued a Congressional letter calling on the Biden administration to end the US policies doing the most harm in Afghanistan.
ACTION: Please call your Representative today and urge them to add their name as a signer to this critical letter on Afghanistan’s famine.
Here’s all you need to do —
1. Dial the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.
2. Ask to speak to your Representative.
3. Once connected, say (in your own words as much as you can):
“Hello, my name is (your name) and I am a constituent from (your city) and I am a member of Peace Action. I am calling because I want to ask __________ [name of Representative] to sign on to the Congressional sign-on letter Representative Jayapal is circulating regarding Afghanistan and the humanitarian crisis there. The letter asks President Biden to end the harsh economic sanctions, asset freezes, and other measures that are creating an economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
I am happy that the US has pulled US troops out of Afghanistan after 20 years, but I am disturbed by the reports of severe hunger and economic collapse coming out of Afghanistan. We should be supporting the Afghan people with aid, not causing more suffering after many years of war.”
Thank you to all of you who can make this call. I’ve been writing a lot lately, but that’s because peace issues are being voted on in Congress a lot these days!
By blocking transfers from the roughly $9.5 billion in Afghanistan Central Bank accounts in the US the Biden administration is starving the Afghan economy of oxygen. The Taliban are brutal and oppressive, and the administration may need to map out a strategy to deal with that. But destroying the entire nation’s economy is not the way to address that. Many Afghans and aid organizations on the ground are asking the US to take a more compassionate path. Cratering the Afghan economy, which is what many economists worry is happening, doesn’t just target the Taliban. It destabilizes the entire country and harms the health and wellbeing of millions.
Winter can always be harsh in Afghanistan. But the pictures of suffering and deprivation coming out of Afghanistan right now are heartbreaking. US foreign policy should not include holding a whole nation hostage because we have issues with the government that took over when we left Afghanistan.
Please call your Representative today.
Thank you for all you do for a more peaceful world.
Afghanistan Facing Famine:
UN, World Bank, US Should Adjust Sanctions, Economic Policies
Afghans attempting to withdraw money from a bank in Kabul, Afghanistan, where lost income and cash shortages are worsening severe food insecurity, September 21, 2021. © 2021 Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
NEW YORK (November 11, 2021) — Donor countries, the United Nations, and international financial institutions should urgently address Afghanistan’s collapsed economy and broken banking system to prevent widespread famine, Human Rights Watch said today.
The UN World Food Program has issued multiple warnings of worsening food insecurity and the risk of large-scale deaths from hunger throughout Afghanistan in coming months. The media have reported that families lacking money and food are selling their possessions and seeking to flee the country overland. Impoverished Afghans facing malnutrition have described desperate attempts to buy or forage for food, and the deaths of people unable to leave.
“Afghanistan’s economy and social services are collapsing, with Afghans throughout the country already suffering acute malnutrition,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Humanitarian aid is critical, but given the crisis, governments, the UN, and international financial institutions need to urgently adjust existing restrictions and sanctions affecting the country’s economy and banking sector.”
Following the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Afghanistan, millions of dollars in lost income, spiking prices, a liquidity crisis, and shortages of cash have deprived much of the population of access to food, water, shelter, and health care, Human Rights Watch said.
A woman living in central Afghanistan told Human Rights Watch that few in her community had money or food: “The teachers haven’t been paid for the past three months.… People are really desperate. When you don’t have food on your plate, you cannot think of anything else. No one has money to buy fuel, to warm the house once it snows, or to buy food.”
The financial crisis has especially affected women and girls, who face disproportionally greater obstacles to obtaining food, health care, and financial resources. The Taliban bans that are keeping women from most paid jobs have hit households in which women were the main earners the hardest. Even in areas in which women are still allowed to work — such as education and health care — they may be unable to comply with Taliban requirements for a male family member to escort women to and from work. The media have increasingly reported of families selling their children — almost always girls – ostensibly for marriage, to obtain food or repay debts.
Afghanistan’s dire economic situation has been exacerbated by decisions by governments and international banking institutions not to deal directly with the Central Bank of Afghanistan because of UN and bilateral sanctions by the US and other countries. This has increased liquidity problems for all banks and shortages of currency in US dollars and Afghanistan’s currency, afghanis.
Numerous banking officials and humanitarian agency staffers told Human Rights Watch that most Afghan banks cannot cover withdrawals by private actors and aid organizations. Even when funds are transmitted electronically into banks, the lack of cash means that money is not physically available and therefore cannot flow into the country’s economy.
US sanctions policy on the Taliban appears to be out of compliance with new policies that the US Treasury Department promulgated on October 18, Human Rights Watch said. The new policies state that the department “should seek to tailor sanctions in order to mitigate unintended economic and political impacts” while adopting a “structured policy framework that links sanctions to a clear policy objective.” Current US policies are not mitigating unintended impacts, nor are they manifesting a clear policy objective.
To address Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch recommends that:
- Governments, the UN, the World Bank, and the Taliban should work to reach an agreement to allow the Afghan Central Bank access to the international banking system. As an initial step, the US Treasury Department and other financial authorities should issue licenses and guidance to allow the Central Bank to engage in limited settlement transactions with outside private banks so that the bank can pay its World Bank dues and process or settle incoming dollar deposits from legitimate private depositors, such as UNICEF, the UN Development Program, remittance banks, and other legitimate actors.
- If an agreement involving the Central Bank is not possible, governments, the UN, and the World Bank should negotiate a short-term agreement with the Taliban to designate a private bank or other entity, independent of the Central Bank, to process large-scale humanitarian transactions to be monitored by officials with the World Bank, UN, or a designated third-party auditing entity. The US Treasury and other authorities should then issue guidance to allow the designated private bank or entity to utilize incoming electronic dollar deposits from humanitarian agencies to purchase paper US dollars outside the country and transport them, under international monitoring, for deposit in private banks in Kabul. Remittance banks should be provided with similar licenses to allow arrangements with private banks to facilitate legitimate US dollar transactions and, if necessary, physical shipments, monitored by an independent auditor.
- In the absence of any agreements, the UN should continue to use whatever means are at its disposal to continue shipments of money to Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes. The Taliban should cooperate in allowing these shipments, allowing deposits into independent private banks, and permitting the UN to utilize the funds independently and without interference.
- The US, along with other governments, should immediately undertake sanctions policy reviews, adjust current measures accordingly, and issue new licenses and guidance to facilitate liquidity and availability of cash to address the humanitarian crisis.
- UN Security Council members should take immediate steps to ensure that legitimate financial transactions related to humanitarian activities and the provision of other essential goods and services are excluded from the scope of UN sanctions. UN Security Council members should also reach agreement on issuing new guidance or “Implementation Assistance Notices,” and take other steps to ensure that UN sanctions do not present obstacles to legitimate financial transactions related to humanitarian and other essential work by international and Afghan actors.
“Donor generosity and humanitarian pledges can’t overcome the stark reality that UN agencies, humanitarian groups, and the Afghan diaspora cannot send assets to a banking system that isn’t functioning, and account holders in Afghanistan can’t withdraw cash that isn’t there,” Sifton said. “Widespread death and suffering from hunger are preventable if governments act urgently to address Afghanistan’s economic crisis.”
