In Afghanistan, 23 million people are reeling from famine. A slight shock can kick them away from life, and it would be a great humanitarian crisis.
Before the fall of Kabul in August, more than half of the population was below the poverty line and was earning something less than $1.9. According to a report of Word Food Programme, some more than 23 million Afghans are facing acute hunger, and around 8.3m are in a state of emergency. The decade’s long war, drought, and famines have shocked Afghanistan to its core. Before the current surrender of the Ashraf Ghani government, the situation was not as satisfactory, but this Talibanization added fuel to the miseries of poor people.
After the fall of Kabul, more than half a million soldiers and police have lost their jobs. People are dying of hunger. There are many pieces of evidence that children and whole families are starving to death because they have nothing to eat. The miserable are selling their properties, and some are selling their daughters to get food (as mentioned in The Economist). Foreign aid, which was the primary driving force of Mr. Ghani, has come to a halt. Foreign reserves of almost 9$ billion have been frozen.
Cutting the long misery, in short, the people of Afghanistan are dying with hunger. The man-made catastrophe in the region is forcing innocent citizens to suffer and suffer until they are no more. But then, the Taliban took over, and Ghani’s flee made the situation worsen.
According to UN-WFP reckons, more than 220 million dollars per month is required to avert the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. But, firstly, it is impossible to collect this considerable money every month. Secondly, if it is collected, who will ensure its proper allocation because no humanitarian organization can replace an economy of a country.
The economy of Afghanistan gave out. The banking system of Afghanistan is completely crashed. The dollar’s support is plunged, and domestic currency has fallen steeply and drastically.
If the US resumes foreign aid or at least assets are unfrozen, it will ease the pressure on the long war-led people. But how can the US give billions of dollars in the hands of butchers of humanity and the most wanted terrorists such as Sirajudin Haqqani?
The world should do something before it’s too late because millions of lives will perish away due to drought, hunger, famine, and other natural and man-led disasters. It would not be rational to stop all the foreign aids to bow the Taliban to their knees. The reason is the world should not let women, children, and most vulnerable people face their destiny in such dreadful ways.
ASHAR AWAN
Islamabad
