As Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) warned on Sept. 13 that the country would plunge into an economic crisis unless frozen international reserves were released by the U.S. Treasury, there is a growing cascade of voices insisting the U.S. do just that. These private sector representatives charged that the U.S. Treasury’s freezing Kabul’s reserves is a violation of humanitarian law and reported that since the reserves were frozen, all transactions between Afghan and international banks have been halted.
Unless the situation is reversed, the country won’t avoid a deep recession, the representatives warned, according to Afghanistan’s TOLOnews. “We call on the United States and the world to solve the issue with the frozen assets, because that money belongs to the people of Afghanistan. If you have political issues with the government or some people, you should not take people’s money hostage,” ACCI acting director Mohammad Yunus Mohmand said. Fellow board member Khan Jan Alokozay said that most of the factories are facing serious shortages of financial resources and raw materials because they are unable to withdraw money, and that in the last month over 1 million laborers have not been paid.
Moreover, the loss of humanitarian aid and the looming fourth wave of the coronavirus could devastate the nation. Afghanistan Health Minister Wahid Majrooh, who had stayed on from the previous government, said that the country’s health system is on the edge of collapse, “We are losing personnel, we are losing lives, and the morale and momentum we had,” Majrooh said. “The crisis is very, very extensive.”
Pressure is growing on the U.S. to release the funds. At today’s press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to a question from The Paper, which quoted Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen as saying, “The U.S. should lift the freeze, as it is the money of the people of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has a lot of economic problems, because of that. This freeze is against the people of Afghanistan. There is a need for that. The new government will take every legal action possible.” Zhao replied: “Shaheen is right. The assets belong to Afghanistan and should be used for the Afghan people. The U.S. should not freeze them without justification. The U.S. should face up to the legitimate demand of Afghanistan, abandon pressure and sanctions, and stop creating obstacles to the economy, livelihood and peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.”
It is likely there will be a clear statement from the Sept. 16-17 Shanghai Cooperation Organization heads of state and government summit, as both Russia and China have indicated that the U.S., which is responsible for the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, has to take the primary responsibility for resolving the crisis. A first step in that direction would be to release the funds to the present interim government before it is too late.
