VOA: A congressman from California has introduced legislation that would give Afghan Fulbright scholars special immigrant visas. The legislation would automatically issue a special immigrant visa to any Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright scholar and to their immediate family members to help them “escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States,” according to a statement from the office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan artists destroy their work fearing Taliban retribution
CNN: This is not the first time the Taliban has taken a stand against the arts in Afghanistan. When the Taliban was last in power, from 1996 to 2001, the regime defaced public paintings and destroyed cultural heritage sites around the country. In 1996, members machine-gunned an iconic fountain in the city of Herat, in western Afghanistan; while in 2001, they blew up two colossal statues of the Buddha that had looked over the Bamiyan Valley for 1500 years. Most forms of music were banned, and television was declared un-Islamic. Click here to read more (external link).
US Has Appointed a New Envoy to Afghanistan
8am: The US Department of State has announced that the US has employed a new representative for better coordination of their colleague’s withdrawal process from Afghanistan, and for their resettlement to America as well. On Tuesday, October 12, a statement was published by the US State that Elizabeth Jones has been appointed as the new coordinator of the Afghan-American transfer process instead of the former US ambassador, John Bass to Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – October 13, 2021
Taliban Warns West Of Fresh Wave Of Refugees If Afghan Sanctions Not Relaxed
Muttaqi
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 13, 2021
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have warned U.S. and European envoys that continuing to use sanctions as a means to put pressure on the militant group would trigger a new wave of economic refugees.
The acting foreign minister of the Taliban government, Amir Khan Muttaqi, told Western diplomats at talks in Qatar that “weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in (the) security sector and economic migration from the country,” according to a statement published late on October 13.
The United States and the European Union have said they are ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan but want guarantees the Taliban will respect human rights, in particular those of women.
The Taliban toppled the Western-backed Afghan government in August following a blitz offensive across the war-wracked country amid the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces that put an end to the two-decade-long conflict.
Afghanistan’s economy is in free fall with most aid cut off as winter nears, food prices rising, and unemployment spiking.
“We urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally so that charity groups, organizations, and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance,” Muttaqi told the Doha meeting according to a statement by his spokesperson.
The EU during its first talks with the Taliban in Doha announced an expanded support package for Afghanistan and its neighbors worth about 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion).
Brussels hopes that donating money to help stabilize Afghanistan and assist countries around it could prevent a repeat of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis, when more than 1 million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East arrived in the bloc.
But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that it would be used to help Afghanistan’s neighbors or given in “direct support” to the Afghan people, bypassing the Taliban government.
“We have been clear about our conditions for any engagement with the Afghan authorities, including on the respect of human rights,” she said on October 12.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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Drugs Funded The Taliban Insurgency, But Money For Afghan Rehab Centers Has Dried Up
Khan: ‘Taliban of 2000’ Might Return if No Intl Engagement
Imran Khan
Tolo News: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said if the international community does not lift sanctions against the Islamic Emirate and does not engage with it, there is a possibility that Afghanistan could go back to the 1990s. “Pakistan insists on recognition for the sake of its own interests, because it has been behind all the problems in Afghanistan and is still interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs,” said Sayed Hakim Kamal, a political analyst. Click here to read more (external link).
The Academic Year Ends Soon: Girls’ Schools Are Still Closed
8am: There are about two and a half months left until the end of the school year, but girls’ schools have not reopened yet. The Taliban did not allow girls’ secondary schools to operate. As the academic year is about to be over, female students are worried about this future and are afraid that they will not be able to go to school anymore. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan Needs an Inclusive Government, Ahmad Massoud Says
Massoud
8am: On Tuesday, October 12, the National Resistance Front (NRF) by publishing a statement has said that the front calls for the formation of a real inclusive government based on the will and votes of the people, adding that he welcomes the stance of the countries of the world not to recognize the Taliban’s government and the emphasis on forming an inclusive government in Afghanistan, and expects this policy to continue decisively. Click here to read more (external link).
G-20 Leaders to Discuss Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
VOA News
October 12, 2021
ROME — Leaders of the grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies are holding a virtual extraordinary meeting Tuesday on Afghanistan, less than two months after the Taliban took over the country. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who holds the rotating presidency of the G-20, had pressed for the meeting saying Afghanistan is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Tuesday’s closed-door virtual summit on Afghanistan would focus on security, humanitarian aid and human rights in the country. It is being held less than three weeks before the G-20 summit of world leaders to be held in Rome on October 30-31.
Since the Taliban returned to power on August 15, following the U.S. troop withdrawal after two decades of war, there have been growing concerns about the humanitarian situation in the country.
Leaders will hold discussions on how to combat terrorism, how to guarantee freedom of movement, both inside and outside Afghanistan’s borders for Afghans as well as members of nongovernmental organizations, and the condition of women in the country, which Draghi has defined a “priority.”
The Italian prime minister spoke about Afghanistan in a recent interview on Italian state television.
Draghi said that for Italy, the future is about defending fundamental rights, defending the rights of women, and protecting all those who have over the years exposed themselves [to dangerous situations] in order defend these rights in Afghanistan.
A major challenge will be pressing the Taliban on guaranteeing the rights of women, who face discrimination and violence, including their full return to schools and to workplaces and their recognition in political life. Only boys are allowed to attend high school and at present, more than 2 million girls are denied access to education and Afghanistan has one of the lowest female literacy rates in the world, according to the World Bank.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that Afghanistan is facing “a make-or-break moment” as he called on the world to act.
Before the Taliban takeover, international aid accounted for 75% of Afghanistan’s state spending, but governments and international organizations have cut off such funding and frozen Afghanistan’s assets.
Guterres said Monday that banks in Afghanistan are closing and that health care and other essential services have been suspended in many places. He warned the humanitarian crisis, which is affecting half the country’s population, is growing.
“The Afghan people cannot suffer a collective punishment because the Taliban misbehave,” Guterres said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged help Monday, saying at an EU ministerial meeting that the “humanitarian and socioeconomic situation in Afghanistan is on the verge of collapse.”
“Today we agreed on having a calibrated approach to give direct support to the Afghan population in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, while certainly not recognizing the Taliban,” Borrell said. “We will deliver the aid through our multilateral partners while respecting our agreed principles of engagement.”
The summit has been extended to the Netherlands, Spain, Singapore and Qatar, which has played an important role in the Taliban’s dialogue with the West.
Afghanistan’s neighbors Pakistan and Iran were not invited to attend the summit and Chinese media reported President Xi Jinping would not take part. But to maximize involvement, various organizations are also joining, including the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Afghanistan’s spiraling economy and the need to provide humanitarian support, also to nearby nations taking in refugees, are central to the meeting.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said he has asked for an “increase in funds for cooperation in Afghanistan to help civilians.” He added that everything must be done to avoid the state from collapsing because, he said, “if Afghanistan collapses, we will face uncontrolled migration to nearby nations with subsequent destabilization in the area.”
Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
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