Status: 13.09.2021 4:01 p.m.
At the UN donor conference, Foreign Minister Maas promised 100 million euros in aid to Afghanistan. In addition, the federal government has begun to issue acceptance letters for human rights activists from Afghanistan.
At the Geneva support conference for Afghanistan, Germany pledged 100 million euros in aid. First of all, it is about humanitarian aid for the crisis country and the region, said Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. He had previously announced that any support for the country would not go beyond “pure emergency aid” for the population.
Maas also announced the promise of “another 500 million euros”. The funds are to “primarily be brought to the people in Afghanistan via the United Nations organizations (…),” he said ARD. He is optimistic that this will also be possible under the Taliban now ruling in Afghanistan, even if “technical talks” are necessary with them.
UN estimates the need for aid at a good 500 million euros
UN Secretary General António Guterres had called the meeting in view of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” in Afghanistan. According to the United Nations, without humanitarian aid, half of the children under five in the country will go hungry in the coming year. Guterres put the immediate need for help at a good 500 million euros. Almost a third of this need arose as a result of the Taliban’s takeover.
Afghanistan has been dependent on international aid for years. At the end of last year, the United Nations called for aid amounting to 1.1 billion euros, but the corresponding pot is still severely underfunded. “Beyond humanitarian aid, our future attitude towards a Taliban government will not depend on its words, but rather on its actions,” said Maas.
Specifically, the new rulers would have to allow people with protection status to leave Germany, respect “basic human rights” and not give international terrorists shelter. So far, however, the Taliban are still a long way from achieving this: “The formation of a transitional government to the exclusion of other groups last week was not the right signal for international cooperation,” said Maas.
Afghanistan is “in a dangerous phase”
The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, accused the Taliban of having broken their promises to uphold civil liberties after they came to power in Afghanistan. Especially when it comes to women’s rights, the local realities do not correspond to the promises. “In contrast to the assurances of the Taliban to protect the rights of women, women have been increasingly excluded from public life in the past three weeks,” said Bachelet. She pointed out that there were no women represented in the new Taliban government.
In addition, there have been cases in which employees of the previous government and their relatives were arbitrarily arrested and later found dead. Afghanistan is in a “new and dangerous phase” in which many women and members of ethnic and religious groups are very concerned for their rights, said Bachelet.
Ministry of the Interior issues acceptance letters
The Federal Ministry of the Interior has meanwhile started issuing acceptance letters for more than 2000 human rights activists, artists, scientists, journalists and other potentially endangered people from Afghanistan. These people had been identified by the Foreign Office as particularly in need of protection, along with the former local members of the Bundeswehr and other German institutions.
Last Friday the full list with the names of human rights defenders and other vulnerable persons was sent by the Foreign Office to the Ministry of the Interior, said department spokesman Steve Alter. If someone is on a list, “then this acceptance confirmation applies; and then it is now the task of the authorities to check whether the person who is actually in front of them is actually who is on the list.”
Most of the persons in need of protection reported by the Foreign Office are either still in Afghanistan or have meanwhile arrived in a neighboring country. According to information from the dpa news agency, the list of those who are not former local employees but who are to be accepted in Afghanistan because of their exposed role includes around 2,600 names. There are also close relatives.