NEW YORK – Several senior members of the US Congress have urged President Joe Biden’s administration to release frozen assets of Afghanistan that is on the verge of famine and economic collapse.
The lawmakers have written to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen, stating that decisive action is needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
Washington has seized nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank since the Taliban took power in mid-August. In October, Deputy United States Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told a US Senate committee he saw no situation where the Taliban would be allowed to access the Afghan central bank reserves.
Letter written by nine very senior and respected congressmen to Secretary Blinken (@SecBlinken) and Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) on the need to provide assistance to Afghan people and unfreezing Afghan assets.#OICInPakistan #OIC4Afg pic.twitter.com/Ec4nxgmMGR
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) December 18, 2021
In the letter, the congressmen have recommended steps to provide aid funding to the Afghan people directly – not the Taliban – while also preventing economic collapse and developing a framework to ensure the Taliban uphold its commitments on counterterrorism, access to secondary school for girls and the formation of an inclusive government.
The lawmakers feared that growing economic and food crisis has prompted fears of mass migration that may further destabilize the region.
They recommended the Biden administration release frozen Afghan assets to an appropriate United Nations agency to pay salaries to the government employees.
They also urged the US administration to allow international financial institutions to inject the necessary economic capital into Afghanistan to stave off the worst of its economic meltdown.
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