‘Undue’ sanctions

The Taliban government’s foreign minister issued a blunt reminder to the world that keeping the country under sanctions will lead to a new wave of economic refugees. Amir Khan Muttaqi told a group of Western diplomats in Doha that sanctions will have “negative effects” on security and will lead to “economic migration from the country”. Despite routing the US-backed Ghani government in a matter of days after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban are still struggling to get the wheels of government rolling amid continuing attacks by Daesh and a lack of hard cash to pay millions of civil servants. The Taliban have also noted that aside from the government, even charity and aid groups cannot operate because of the current restrictions on the financial sector.

But while European powers are willing to acknowledge the potential impact denying the Taliban government access to aid and other funds will have on Afghans, they are still insisting on guarantees from the new government that it will respect human rights. And while Europeans also have legitimate concerns about how sanctions could lead to an increase in economic migrants on their borders, at least Europe as a whole has the capacity to absorb them and enough distance from Afghanistan to limit the number coming in. Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China — Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours, do not have the luxury of logistical hurdles preventing mass migration. Apart from China, the borders with the other countries are also relatively porous. Most of these countries — especially Pakistan — also lack the economic capacity needed to host millions of refugees.

But the plight of Afghans or the countries that may soon have to host them appears to have little impact on the US. While Washington claims to sympathise, its relative safety from an Afghan influx and lack of practical action to address the looming crisis is making it appear more and more like another case of the US invading a country, ripping it to shreds, and refusing to take responsibility for what it broke. And just as it was with Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, and most of Latin America, no US leaders, current or former, will face any consequences.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2021.

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