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Russia and China have always advocated the release of frozen assets in Afghanistan.
The United Nations warned on Thursday that freezing billions of dollars in Afghan assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Taliban will inevitably trigger a “severe economic recession” and may plunge millions of Afghans into poverty and hunger.
Deborah Lyons, the UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan, said that it is necessary to find a way to get funds to flow into the country quickly, “to prevent the complete collapse of the economic and social order”, and take safeguards to ensure that funds will not be taken by the Taliban. abuse.
Lyon told the UN Security Council that Afghanistan may “regress several generations.”
“The economy must be breathed for a few more months to give the Taliban a chance to show flexibility and a genuine willingness to act in a different way this time, especially from a human rights, gender and counter-terrorism perspective,” Leon said of the 15-member group Council.
Most of the US$10 billion in assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan are stored overseas, and they are considered a key tool for the West to pressure the Taliban. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that it will not relax sanctions on the Taliban, nor will it relax restrictions on the organization’s access to the global financial system.
The International Monetary Fund also prevented the Taliban from obtaining approximately US$440 million in new emergency reserves.
“The Taliban seek international legitimacy and support. Our message is simple: any legitimacy and support must be obtained,” senior US diplomat Jeffrey De Laurentiis told the Security Council.
Both Russia and China advocate the release of frozen assets in Afghanistan.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said: “These assets belong to Afghanistan and should be used in Afghanistan, not as a threat or a lever for restraint.”
Women and girls
At the beginning of 2021, half of Afghanistan’s population (more than 18 million people) will need help. The United Nations Development Program warned on Thursday that Afghanistan will face widespread poverty by the middle of next year.
The Taliban seized power 20 years after being overthrown by a US-led invasion last month.
Ghulam Iszai, the Afghanistan UN ambassador appointed by the US-backed government that was overthrown by the Taliban, urged the Security Council to “reject any government in Afghanistan unless it is truly inclusive and based on the free will of the people.”
The Taliban leaders vowed to respect women’s rights in accordance with Sharia law or Sharia law. However, according to their 1996-2001 regulations, women cannot work and girls are prohibited from going to school. When going out, women must cover their faces and be accompanied by male relatives.
Lyons said the UN is receiving more and more reports that these restrictions have once again restricted women’s rights.
She added: “In some areas, they restricted girls’ access to education and disbanded women’s affairs ministries across Afghanistan.”
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was shot and killed by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan when she left school in 2012. She urged the Security Council to recognize that “girls’ education is a powerful tool for building peace and security “And protect Afghan women and girls.
“I screamed for the right of every girl to go to school. I saw a gunman stopped my school bus, called my name, and shot me. I was 15 years old at the time,” she told the council on Thursday. “If we don’t take action, many Afghan girls may share this story.
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