Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are seeking to exercise greater control over international assistance operations by imposing bans and restrictions on aid groups even as the country suffers from one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
In a new report, the research group Afghanistan Analysts Network looked into why the Taliban has imposed restrictions on aid groups and the hard-line government’s attitude towards aid operations and the aid workers implementing them.
Over the past year, the Taliban has banned Afghan women from working for international nongovernmental organizations and most aid groups. It also has ordered all internationally funded education projects to be handed over to its Education Ministry.
Earlier this month, the militant rulers also suspended all Swedish-funded aid projects in what the group said was its response to the burning of the Islamic holy book, the Koran, in Stockholm.
“The Taliban’s increasingly restrictive stance suggests the environment will not become easier any time soon,” the report, released on July 30, concludes.
Written by Sabawoon Samim and Ashley Jackson, the report recommends that aid groups interested in continuing their work in Afghanistan should consider "investing in improving relations with the Taliban and trying to change the authorities’ perceptions of aid actors," adding this should be "an urgent priority.”
According to the United Nations, Afghanistan is one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. More than 29 million Afghans, or over two-thirds of the country’s estimated 40 million people, need humanitarian assistance.
A rapid economic collapse after the pullout of international troops in August 2021, environmental disasters, and the gradual loss of international humanitarian aid has pushed millions toward starvation.
"We are hungry, and we are worried. If aid does not reach us, we will all be dead,” said Hussain, whose family of seven survived because of the two bags of flour an international NGO gave him last month.
No country has officially recognized the Taliban-led government, which has been widely criticized for human rights abuses, severe restrictions of women’s rights, and discrimination against ethnic minorities.
International concerns about the Taliban’s marginalization of women and girls, and other human rights abuses, have further suppressed aid flows.
"I have been sitting here for 10 days and no work,” says Khurd Agha.
“I can only buy bread for my family when I have some money,” the father of seven told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
The Taliban has been at loggerheads with international aid groups for months. In December, the group banned Afghan women from working for local and foreign NGOs, leading major organizations to halt or reduce their operations, including emergency food distribution, health-care services, and education. In April, the ban was expanded to include the UN.
Later that month, international donors and aid agencies suspended their operations in three Afghan provinces after accusing the Taliban of attempting to divert or manipulate aid distribution.
In June, the UN revised its annual aid budget for Afghanistan from $4.6 billion to $3.2 billion this year, citing reduced funding from international donors.
Abdul Fattah Javad, an Afghan aid worker, says he is deeply anxious in Kabul. His country cannot freely trade because of sanctions on the Taliban's unrecognized government, while moves hindering access to aid bite even further.
"The reduction of international aid would have a regrettable effect on the lives of Afghans,” he told Radio Azadi.