Afghanistan Hit by Trump’s Order on Foreign Aid
Dr. Vijay Sakhuja
The reverberations of President Trump’s return to White House as the 47th President of the United States of America has affected the disbursement of development aid to developing countries, international organisations, non-government agencies, and other international initiatives. The Executive Order Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid puts a three month freeze on “new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds” and calls for reassessment of such aid to enhance “efficiencies and consistency” with the US’ foreign policy. However, emergency food aid and military aid to Egypt and Israel has been exempted from the Order.
Among the many dependent and beneficiaries of US humanitarian aid across the globe, Afghanistan stands out. It has been hit on at least three counts; first, as many as 50 charities that work in Afghanistan have “partially suspended or halted their work” and “humanitarian aid, health care and education” adversely affected by President Trump’s Executive Order. Meanwhile, some of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) functions have been wound up including funding in Afghanistan for “more than 22 million Afghans that need aid” are affected. In the past 24 years, the country received $109 billion in aid from USAID.
Second, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report notes that the Taliban, the current ruling dispensation in Afghanistan, has no legal basis to receive US aid as they are listed under US Specially Designated Global Terrorist list which also attracts UN sanctions. The SIGAR report also makes reference to the frozen Afghanistan fiscal assets totaling $9 billion ($7 billion belonging to Afghan central bank deposited in the US and $2 billion frozen in the EU countries). The Taliban deny having received any aid from the USAID but many believe that financial assistance has been an important factor for political and economic stability in Afghanistan under the regime.
The Taliban government has also sought the return of the frozen money and warned the US government against “allocation, use, or transfer” of the funds. Also, the report strongly objects to the Taliban policies and priorities which have resulted in the decline of the quality of education due to “drop in the number of teachers and a decrease in teacher quality” which have been replaced by “unqualified community members or Taliban officials”.
Third, the US and the Taliban regime are negotiating the release of US nationals held as hostages in Afghanistan. Two US nationals were exchanged for the release of a Taliban person accused of “drug and terrorism charges” and was serving life sentence in a US prison. The swap was negotiated by former President Joe Biden’s administration. On learning that two more hostages were still in Taliban custody, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened that the US will announce a “very big bounty on their top leaders” similar to that for Osama bin Laden. The Taliban appear unfazed even threatening “retaliatory measures in response”; yet are keen to work with the US with a hope to “reach a solution through peaceful means,”
President Trump has also demanded that Taliban return the $7 billion worth arms and equipment (aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, vehicles and communications equipment) left behind by the US military who made a hasty withdrawal from the country. The Taliban, on their part have refused to return the weapons citing the threats posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and insisted they “require more arms, ammunition, and advanced weapons to fight instead of giving the weapons back”. Taliban’s refusal has irked President Trump, and he warned them that the US would “not give them the money unless they give back our military equipment.”
The US has also suspended the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programme under which those Afghans who had helped the US forces during their deployment in the country (interpreters, informers, and sundry helpers, etc.) were provided funding through resettlement agencies. The funding for these agencies has also been suspended under the new Order. One such person states that they “risked lives because of those missions. Now we're in grave danger”.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is hopeful of a fresh start under President Trump. According to the formal statement issued by the Afghanistan Foreign Affairs Department, the Taliban government is hopeful of a “pragmatic approach to ensure tangible advancement in bilateral relations, allowing both nations to open a new chapter of relations grounded in mutual engagement.”
The Taliban appear to be accommodative towards the Trump Administration because they have a lots to gain by mending fences with not only Washington DC but also other capitals across the globe particularly in the European Union. They also needs economic aid for growth and development as also international recognition which will help it obtain investments for western countries.
Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is Professor and Head, Center of Excellence for Geopolitics and International Studies (CEGIS), REVA University, Bengaluru and is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi.
