Afghanistan prey to famine

(New York, November 11, 2021) - Donor counTRies, United Nations and international financial institutions should urgently remedy the collapse of the economy and the banking system in Afghanistan in order to prevent general famine, saidHuman Rights Watch today.

The UN World Food Program has launched several warnings to the worsening of food insecurity in Afghanistan, and at the risk of many deaths due to the whole of the territory in the coming months.The media reported that families lacking money and food sold their property and TRied to flee the counTRy by land.Demunned Afghan people in the grip of malnuTRition have detailed their desperate attempts to buy or seek food, and have reported the death of people who could not leave.

"The economy and social services of Afghanistan are collapsing while, throughout the counTRy, the population is already suffering from acute malnuTRition," said John Sifton, director of plea with the Asia division toHuman Rights Watch."Humanitarian aid is crucial, but given the crisis, governments, the United Nations and international financial institutions must urgently adapt the resTRictions and sanctions in force relating to the economy and the banking sector of the counTRy.»»

Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the loss of millions of dollars in revenues, the prices outbreak, a liquidity crisis and cash shortages deprived a large part ofThe population of food, water, housing and health care, said Human Rights Watch.

An Afghane living at the center of the counTRy told Human Rights Watch that few people among his community had money or food: "Teachers have not been paid for three months...Everyone is really desperate.When your plate remains empty, it is difficult to think of something else.No one has money to buy peTRol, to heat the houses when it snows or to buy food.»»

The financial crisis has particularly touched women and girls, who have to deal with inconsistent obstacles to obtain food, health care and financial resources.The prohibitions established by the Taliban which prevent women from accessing the best paid jobs very cruelly sTRuck households where women were the main sources of income.Even in regions where women are still authorized to work, especially in the education and health care sectors, they are sometimes unable to comply with the obligations of the Taliban according to which they must be accompanied by amale member of their family to go to their workplace and home.The stories of families who have sold their children (almost always girls) probably in marriage in order to buy food or repay a debt are more and more regular in the media.

The catasTRophic economic situation of Afghanistan has been aggravated by the decisions taken by governments and international financial institutions not to deal directly with the Afghan cenTRal bank due to the sanctions of the UN and the bilateral embargoes imposed by the States-United and other counTRies.All this has exacerbated liquidity problems in all banks, as well as currency shortages, in particular American dollars and Afghanis, the counTRy's currency.

A large number of managers of banks and people working for humanitarian agencies told Human Rights Watch that most Afghan banks were unable to respond to requests for withdrawal from individuals and assistance organizations.Even when funds are TRansferred to the banks elecTRonically, due to the shortage of liquid money, money is not physically available and therefore cannot be injected into the counTRy's economy.

The set of sanctions imposed by the United States on the Taliban does not seem to comply with the new orientations adopted on October 18 by the US Treasury, said Human Rights Watch. Selon ces nouvelles orientations, le Trésor « devrait s’efforcer d’adapter les sanctions afin de limiter les répercussions économiques et politiques non intentionnelles»» tout en adoptant « un cadre sTRucturé garantissant que les sanctions poursuivent un objectif politique clair»».The measures currently applied by the United States do not limit unintentional impact, and also do not reflect a clear political objective.

Given the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch issues the following recommendations:

« La générosité des donateurs et les promesses de dons humanitaires restent vaines face à la dure réalité : les agences de l’ONU, les organismes humanitaires et la diaspora afghane ne peuvent pas TRansférer de fonds vers un système bancaire qui ne fonctionne pas, et les titulaires de comptes en Afghanistan ne peuvent pas retirer de l’argent qui n’est pas là»», a conclu John Sifton."It is possible to avoid a massive number of deaths and hunger suffering if governments act without further delay to remedy the Afghan economic crisis.»»

Informations complementaires et témoignages

Testimonials from Afghan on the humanitarian crisis

In different provinces, Afghan have declared that wages had almost disappeared in most sectors, especially in urban areas, and that food prices increased quickly.According to some testimonies, families have sold their property or their children to pay TRaffickers and be able to leave the counTRy.

« Farid»» (pseudonyme) a expliqué qu’il avait fui récemment en Iran, mais que les autorités iraniennes l’avaient mis en prison, puis expulsé.He reported having seen hundreds of families, often with young children, TRying to flee the counTRy with little money, food and clothes.He said that he no longer had the means to provide for his family or buying:

He explained that TRaffickers took advantage of the situation to charge people for $ 500 to $ 700 to inTRoduce them to Iran in Iran. « J’ai vu aussi des cadavres de personnes mortes dans les déserts menant à la frontière»», a-t-il ajouté."I had to sell everything I had in order to pay the TRaffickers.»»

« Sharzad»», une femme vivant dans le sud-est de l’Afghanistan, a déclaré que la situation humanitaire était « pire que ce que les médias laissent paraîTRe»».She said: "The shops are closed, the girls do not go to school.Banks only give a fixed amount, and you have to line up for a long time just for this sum...The situation is very bad.People are very poor.»»

Elle a rapporté avoir assisté à des « scènes horribles»» au bazar : « De jeunes enfants imploraient chacune des personnes enTRant dans la boulangerie de leur acheter du pain, mais aucune d’elles ne pouvait se permetTRe d’acheter rien qu’un pain de plus pour ces enfants.»»

She explained that prices increased every day and that people were going to die this winter:

« C’est un vrai cauchemar, personne au monde n’aurait jamais pu imaginer cela»», a-t-elle conclu.

« Sitara»» a décrit des personnes à la recherche de nourriture dans les champs après récolte :

Factors conTRibuting to the economic crisis in Afghanistan

Several factors are at the origin of the crisis which currently sTRikes Afghanistan or aggravate it, in particular the interruption of foreign aid which paid the salaries of millions of employees in the public and private sectors,massive withdrawals from private banks and the collapse of the economy.There are also the past links of the Taliban with Al-Qaeda, their previous disasTRous regime, their inability to keep their public commitments and their horrible assessment in terms of human rights, in particular with regard to women, girls and minoritiesreligious.All of these factors have conTRibuted to international governments and financial institutions to recognize the Taliban government and allow organizations now under the conTRol of the Taliban to work as government entities within the international financial system.

The US Treasury has reaffirmed that the sanctions currently imposed by the United States on the Taliban and certain Taliban leaders, which arise from previous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council on group links with terrorism, remained in force.UN agencies and United Nations member states remain linked to the sanctions of the United Nations Security Council.

The United States, a major player in the international financial system, prevented the Afghan cenTRal bank from obtaining the necessary certificates to carry out TRansactions based on American and international banking systems.The US Treasury deprived him of access to foreign currency reserves, even as a guarantee when it was a question of providing short -term liquidity in order to settle TRansactions in dollars or to repay debts to the World Bank.The United States government has launched a procedure from the World Bank to prevent the CenTRal Bank from accessing all assets, donations or aid held by the World Bank, that the CenTRal Bank would not in any case be able toTRansfer being deprived of access to the international banking system.

In the absence of new measures or guidelines given by the committees of the competent sanctions within the Security Council, which would require the agreement of all the other members of the Council, it remains difficult to know if the UN sanctions applyat the cenTRal bank or TRansactions involving government agencies or minisTRies conTRolled by sanctioned persons.UN agencies and certain executive partners still do not know with certainty what TRansactions can be made with government entities.Recent authorizations and guidelines of the American Treasury which allow TRansactions related to humanitarian activities do not evoke many other legitimate TRansactions, nor the status of the CenTRal Bank or its certificates, and have not remedied the underlying problemsshortage of liquidity and liquid silver.

The Afghan CenTRal Bank has imposed local retirement limits on account holders and individuals, and has prohibited many types of elecTRonic TRansactions in US dollars.Private banks do not have enough local currencies to cover withdrawals, have little or no dollars in cash, and do not seem to make credit.They also encounter difficulties in settling incoming TRansactions in dollars via the corresponding accounts in foreign private banks, very likely because foreign banks fear raping the sanctions in doing so.

The incapacity of the CenTRal Bank to carry out TRansactions in US dollars or to obtain US Dollars in Papier currency conTRibutes greatly to the economic crisis in Afghanistan.Dollars TRansactions, whether in elecTRonic or paper form, are an integral part of the Afghan economy.In the past thirty years, the major part of the counTRy's gross domestic product has been injected into dollars in the economy, in particular through donor funding, fund TRansfers and export revenues.

Local currencies shortages are also critical and may worsen over time with inflation, physical degradation of banknotes, increased personal debt and increase in social inequality.Companies responsible for printing Afghan currency in Europe, which are rightly worried about cenTRal bank certificates and in force sanctions, cannot send new tickets to Kabul.Taliban authorities have no capacity to print currency.

Even when legitimate elecTRonic TRansactions are possible, Afghan banks and foreign financial institutions with locally agents, whose essential organizations and fund TRansfer services do not have enough Afghanis to cover withdrawals, are not inmeasure to provide dollars and cannot obtain any of these two currencies from the cenTRal bank in sufficient quantity.Many legitimate accounts do not have the opportunity to access their balance or the money sent to them.

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