'The real owners of these reserves are people of Afghanistan,' said the nation's central bank on Saturday
issued a day earlier by U.S. President Joe Biden to seize over $7 billion in foreign exchange assets—a move that humanitarians have denounced as unbelievably cruel given the suffering of the Afghan people as its economy and healthcare systems teeter on the brink of collapse with millions facing starvation and freezing winter temperatures.
The DAB said it"will never accept if the FX reserves of Afghanistan is paid under the name of compensation or humanitarian assistance to others" and demanded the reversal of Biden's decision and that all seized funds be returned."The real owners of these reserves are people of Afghanistan," said the bank.Friday, condemnation of Biden's plan—which includes making half of the funds, approximately $3.
Human Rights Watch was among those who said the Biden plan is deeply misguided. In a Friday statement, the group said the move is likely to bring more devastation to the innocent people of Afghanistan who had nothing to with the 9/11 attacks and should not be punished because the U.S. government despises the Taliban government that now rules the country.
While Biden's plan to direct $3.5 billion of the seized fund to humanitarian assistance for Afghans"may sound generous," added Sifton,"it should be remembered that the entire $7 billion already legally belonged to the Afghan people. And yet, even if the U.S. gave it to a humanitarian trust fund, current restrictions on Afghanistan’s banking sector make it virtually impossible to send or spend the money inside the country.
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