On Wednesday (December 22), the United States formally exempted U.S. and United Nations officials who have business dealings with the Taliban from U.S. sanctions in an attempt to maintain the flow of aid to Afghanistan as it plunges into a deeper humanitarian crisis.
However, it is not clear whether this move will pave the way for the United Nations to pay the Islamists about $6 million for security.
Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday on a United Nations plan to subsidize the monthly salaries of the staff of the Ministry of the Interior managed by the Taliban next year. They are responsible for guarding United Nations facilities and paying them monthly food allowances. This proposal triggered whether the payment was violated. The issue of US sanctions.
The Treasury Department declined to say whether the new license would exempt the proposed United Nations money from the U.S. sanctions against the Taliban.
For many years, Washington has classified the Taliban as a terrorist organization and ordered the freezing of its American assets and prohibiting Americans from dealing with these assets.
The Ministry of Finance issued three general permits on Wednesday to ease the flow of humanitarian aid into Afghanistan.
Two of these permits allow US officials and officials of certain international organizations (such as the United Nations) to engage in transactions involving the Taliban or the Haqqani network for official business.
The third license provides protection to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from sanctions imposed by the United States on certain activities (including humanitarian projects) of the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
A senior U.S. government official stated that the Taliban will have to take action to prevent the Afghan economy from shrinking further.
“What we can try to do, what we will do, is to alleviate the humanitarian crisis by providing resources to the Afghan people. These general licenses will enable us to make organizations doing this work follow exactly that,” the official told reporters .
The top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives criticized the decision of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
The exemption “may result in the use of U.S. taxpayer funds to reward, legalize and support the same Taliban that has taken power by force and has no interest in complying with international norms,” said representative Michael McCall in a statement.
The economic crisis in Afghanistan accelerated after the Taliban seized power in August, as the former Western-backed government collapsed and the last US troops withdrew.
The United States and other donors cut financial aid, and Afghanistan’s hard currency assets of more than $9 billion were frozen.
According to the United Nations, nearly 23 million people (approximately 55% of the total population) are facing extreme hunger, and as winter approaches, nearly 9 million people are at risk of famine.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken said in a statement: “We will continue to support our partners’ efforts to expand assistance and provide necessary relief at this time of special need.”
To resolve this crisis, the UN Security Council passed a resolution exempting donors, aid groups and financial institutions involved in humanitarian assistance from the UN’s asset freeze on Taliban leaders and leaders of related entities.
Geoffrey De Laurentiis, senior adviser to the United States Mission to the United Nations, said when urging approval that the exemption “is only used to provide humanitarian assistance and other activities that support the basic human needs of Afghanistan, and the Security Council will review these activities within a year.” Measures.
