UN has withdrawn most of its staff, IMF has blocked funds, and Human Rights Watch is on high alert

After the seizure of power by the Taliban, Afghanistan began to suffer reactions from all over the world: from the blocking of funds from the International Monetary Fund, through the relocation of United Nations (UN) personnel, to the firm demands of Human Rights Watch to respect human rights.

First, around 100 UN staff in Afghanistan were transferred to Kazakhstan as a “temporary measure” given the situation in the country due to the fall of the government against the Taliban.

“A group of UN staff are traveling from Kabul to Almaty in Kazakhstan, where they will continue their work remotely“, informed the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, during a press conference.

As he explained, this is a measure that should “continue to provide assistance to the Afghan people with the least disruption”, while “the risk to personnel is reduced“.

“Remote presence will provide close support to the continued work of the United Nations family on the ground in Afghanistan, ”he added.

Then he pointed out that “personnel will return to Afghanistan if conditions permit“.

Last Monday, Secretary General António Guterres explained that “the United Nations presence in Afghanistan” would be appropriate “to the security situation”.

At the same time, the IMF announced that the new Afghan government will not be able to access reserve assets and other resources from next week, to try to prevent the Taliban from seizing new funds while clarifying the political situation in the Asian country.

As specified by the agency, “lack of clarity” in the international community regarding the recognition of the future Afghan administration.

“As always, the IMF is guided by the views of the international communitySaid a spokesperson in a message picked up by the Bloomberg agency.

Like other countries, Afghanistan was to receive on Monday $ 455 million (around 390 million euros) in special drawing rights, exchangeable for cash. As it has already happened in Venezuela or Burma, Afghanistan will receive the assets, but not really You can control them or exchange them for any currency.

Human Rights Watch, on alert

LONG Human Rights Watch (HRW) said so far the Taliban had spoken only “vague words” regarding respect for freedoms and human rights in Afghanistan, to which they were urged to publicly commit. To respect the treaties in force and allow the presence of the United Nations and independent international observers.

HRW Asia Campaign Director John Sifton believes that “the Taliban need to demonstrate their commitment to human rights through actions“.

“Winning the confidence of the nation and the world will require that the Taliban authorities across the country respect the human rights of all,” he added, aware of the risk they run. vulnerable groups such as women, Government officials or collaborators of the foreign army.

In fact, HRW and other organizations have already collected information on alleged extrajudicial executions officials by the Taliban in recent weeks.

The head of HRW considers it “key” that the UN can put in place a mechanism to Human rights research in Afghanistan and report publicly on the real situation.

For its part, the Human Rights Council must meet urgently next Tuesday and HRW hopes that a resolution will be adopted which will open the door to an investigation.

With information from agencies.

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