Afghanistan crisis: 8 urgent steps the world needs to take NOW!

Amid the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, one of the key focus areas involves Afghans seeking refuge in several countries fearing the Taliban's wrath. With the Taliban seizing the country after toppling the democratic-elected government of Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan is going through a massive humanitarian crisis across the provinces.  

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To confront this crisis, the World Refugee & Migration Council has appealed to global leaders to withhold the recognition to the new Taliban government and blocking access to its finances. To avert further human suffering and bloodshed, the WRMC has come up with eight urgent priorities 

These priorities include: 

1. Keeping the Hamid Karzai International Airport secure for evacuation flights for a long as necessary. No artificial deadlines should be set for the withdrawal of NATO forces deployed to secure the airport. 

2. UN Member States must ensure that UN funds and agencies on the ground in the region have the requisite resources to provide humanitarian relief to thousands of Afghans who, in recent months, have been forcibly displaced. Over 10 per cent of the Afghan population has been forcibly displaced. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan is facing a 60 per cent shortfall. The WRMC sought the extension and strengthening of the funding and mandate of the UNAMA. It also called for tight scrutiny of human rights issues posed by the Taliban. 

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3. Taliban has to be made to provide a humanitarian land corridor to permit access to assistance for those in Afghanistan facing famine and those who have been displaced by the decades-long war. 

4. Consistent with the Global Compact on refugees, the WRMC called upon the international community to move expeditiously to develop coordinated, predictable, and equitable means of ensuring support for those Afghans who want to set up base outside their country.

5. The WRMC said that the Afghan refugees' future must not be determined by geography alone. Rather, it should be based on principles of responsibility sharing in the Global Compact. While taking note of certain countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States committing to taking in some Afghan refugees, the WRMC called to remove the red tape involved in the process. The agency stated that the refugee numbers agreed upon by the countries should be flexible as per the evolving situation in Afghanistan. It further sought that the Afghan refugees must be allowed to enter countries bordering the war-torn country and the international community should fully support such countries with whatever support they need. 

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6. The Secretary-General should hold a multi-stakeholder pledging conference, similar to the one held in 1979 for Vietnamese refugees, with the aim of gaining commitments from Afghanistan to protect citizens' rights and clear the path for an orderly departure. 

7. Women, girls and LGBTQ+ communities have historically faced grievous challenges in Afghanistan, especially under Taliban rule. The international community must continuously monitor the Taliban's behaviour toward vulnerable populations by strengthening UNAMA's mandate.

8. The UN Secretary-General should appoint an adequately resourced special envoy to coordinate international efforts to assist the people of Afghanistan and promote the achievement of these priority objectives. 

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International Monetary Fund has suspended the Afghanistan government special drawing rights amidst no formal government in the country. After Ghani fled the country and the Taliban captured 33 of 34 provinces, the government is yet to be formed formally. 

India has issued an e-emergency visa system for Afghans who wish to seek assistance from the Indian government amidst the turmoil situation in the country. India evacuated over 60 Afghans on August 22 using the Indian Air Force's C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. The UK has announced that it will accommodate 5,000 Afghans initially and scale that up to 20,000 in the months to come. 

• Afghanistan crisis
• World Refugee & Migration Council
• WRMC
• Taliban
• Afghan refugees
• Afghanistan
• human rights
• UN Member States
• Afghan women