US urged to ease freeze on Afghan assets

Alarmed by the critical humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, independent UN human rights experts on Monday called for the United States to end its freeze on Afghanistan’s foreign assets.

The Da Afghanistan Bank has more than USD 7 billion in blocked reserves that could be used to provide desperately-needed humanitarian relief to tens of millions in the country, said the group of experts.

We are gravely concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, which puts at serious risk the lives of more than half of the country’s population, with disproportionate impact on women and children, they said.

In February, US President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order to continue to block the cash and reportedly use part of the funds for purposes within the US, instead of the immediate and longer-term humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.

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