By Afshain Afzal
Let us carryout an accountability of pledges and donations through official announcements by various countries. In majority of the cases, it is not the sweet will of these countries but the United Nations mechanism that compel them to extend humanitarian aid. However, as a thumb rule, all the world powers have denied extending any aid and relief to Taliban who are ruling Afghanistan. It is important to note that world nations have been unfair in helping Afghanistan during humanitarian crisis, rather they failed to even fulfill their previous pledges. Not sufficient to address a fraction of needy Afghan, but Turkey dispatched series of convoy, carrying tons of food supply through Pakistan and other means. There are many other countries which did the same but will this mere aid accounting only several hundred tonnes would be suffice for the people of Afghanistan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rightly and boldly pronounced, “The people of Afghanistan have been left alone; they were abandoned with the consequences of instability, and the conflicts that have lasted for more than four decades,” He said, “regardless of whether the West likes the Taliban or not, whether they can find some middle ground, or not, Afghanistan needs to be extended humanitarian and financial help”. Pakistan pledged over US $28m in immediate humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Islamabad dispatched over 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid on 58 trucks to Afghanistan.
China announced 200 million RMB Yuan worth of emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The United States has prioritized support for Afghan refugees, refugee returnees, and other displaced persons for years. In mid September 2021, US announced that it will be providing nearly $64 million in new humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, however, in revised US Department of State statements it announced additional nearly $144 million in humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees in the region to make nearly $474 million in 2021. The statement said that the aid will go directly to independent humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other short-listed international and non-governmental organizations to support all Afghan persons in vulnerable situations, including women, children, journalists, human rights defenders, persons with disabilities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) and individuals, and members of minority groups.
The 27 member states European Union has announced a revamped humanitarian aid package worth €1 billion to deal with the aftermath of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The new package include pledges which had been already agreed to support the country's civilian population, protect human rights and advance the coronavirus vaccination campaign. The aid will be channeled through international organizations working inside Afghanistan. As a blackmailing tactics €450 million have not yet been earmarked and linked by a criteria that involve respect for the rule of law and human rights, including women's rights, and assurances that humanitarian aid operations are able to continue to Western favourites include ethnic minorities and LGBTQI. Likewise Canada has announced allocation of $50 million from Canadian international assistance resources but has set same conditions.
Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) claim to have chalked out plan to provide support directly to the more than 18.4 million vulnerable Afghans in the region including Afghan refugees. This funding will allow designated organizations to provide lifesaving protection, shelter, livelihoods support, essential health care, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services to respond to the needs generated by recent conflict and compounded by the severe drought and other natural disasters, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In the recent development world governments including US, Britain, Canada, France and Germany announced aid for Pakistan and Iran to keep Taliban unstable and unrecognized. Major chuck of additional $144 million announced by the US in humanitarian assistance will be expanded under the same head. Germany has said it is ready to mobilize cash for neighbouring countries, like Iran and Pakistan, to help them host displaced Afghans and counter a new rise in terrorist activity and organized crime in the region. It is generally an official stance that humanitarian should go to 3.5 million displaced Afghans, including over 500,000 displaced this year alone. It was all planned to evict Afghan from Afghanistan and settle them elsewhere. In fact, evacuation was preplanned step to develop a centrifugal force abroad. Some evacuees claim facing a year of waiting in temporary locations in order to get resettled in their new home countries to begin in the new countries. One wonders which law allows a foreign occupying nations to evacuate nationals of the country under occupation; preventing them from their possessions, jobs, friends, family members, and culture and tradition. Many nations are behind this new trend of chose and pick slavery.
This time a new strategy has been more overtly adopted to exclude and settle aggrieved individuals and groups from target countries and vigorously support all persons in vulnerable situations. These include people including women, children, journalists, human rights defenders, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI and individuals, and members of minority groups to create pressure groups and act as instrument of instability and chaos. This would bring a constant instability and pressurize governments of those countries to bend knees in accepting dictates from developed of world to end sovereign self governments and create conducive environment that fulfil interests of powerful nations. One wonders the United Nations Organizations has become indirectly party to it and there are likely changes that it would become another League of Nations for which the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam said in connection with its role in creation of State of Israel over Palestinian land, "Coffin thieves designated to distribute graves". It is time to think what we are doing to the needy people of Afghanistan? Are we not allowing to die in harsh winters of Afghanistan only because we donot like Taliban as ruling Afghanistan.