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OCHA chief says IEA has not fulfilled its commitments over human rights
The United Nations top humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths, who is stepping down from his post at the end of June, said on Tuesday at a briefing that he was leaving the job “with a sense of work unfulfilled because the world is a worse place now than when I joined up in 2021.”
Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and head of OCHA (the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) said Tuesday the Islamic Emirate has not fulfilled its obligations over human rights.
Speaking at a briefing Griffiths said the Islamic Emirate, after regaining control of Afghanistan, made commitments to the international community regarding the provision of human rights, especially women’s rights.
“I had spent a lifetime working in Afghanistan in one way or another. And we had some hopes then, we had indeed some written commitments then as to how we would be able to go forward with the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) – and those hopes have been dashed,” he said.
“The edicts against women and girls have come one after the other, and the degree to which and the issues upon which the international community engages with the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) on behalf of the people of Afghanistan is still a conversation,” he added.
He went on to say however that this issue was superseded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Then, just months later, focus shifted to Gaza and Sudan. He noted that the UN’s attention is now on “big crises” – Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, but that Syria, Yemen, and Haiti “are places still of great suffering”.
Griffiths was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in May 2021.He will step down at the end of June for health reasons.
Pakistan says communities living along the Afghanistan-Pakistan Durand Line want peace and stability, despite ongoing security concerns in the region.
Speaking during a weekly media briefing, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said there are no major issues between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, adding that residents on both sides of the Durand Line want peaceful relations and greater regional stability.
However, Andrabi claimed that terrorism originating from Afghan territory continues to undermine peace efforts.
He said Islamabad believes militant activity crossing from Afghanistan remains a significant obstacle to improving regional security and bilateral ties.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly rejected such allegations, maintaining that no militant group is allowed to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries.
Andrabi also said Pakistan remains diplomatically engaged on regional matters involving Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Somalia, stressing that dialogue and diplomacy remain Islamabad’s preferred means of resolving disputes.
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Afghanistan-Gambia ties discussed during Doha meeting
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Doha, has met with Omar Jah, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of The Gambia to Qatar, to discuss bilateral relations and areas of mutual interest.
According to a statement from the Afghan embassy in Doha, Jah also oversees Gambian diplomatic affairs related to Afghanistan.
The meeting focused on Afghanistan-Gambia relations, the current security situation in Afghanistan, and potential investment opportunities in the country.
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly and head of the Pakhtunkhwa Awami National Party, has said that if capable statesmen had been in power, people living on both sides of the Durand Line could have moved freely across the line.
Speaking during a podcast interview, Achakzai said that countries with histories of major conflict, including Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom, now maintain far more open borders despite past wars. He said that in many such regions, only a “paper line” remains, with limited border restrictions.
Drawing comparisons with the disputed Durand Line boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Achakzai argued that a similar arrangement could have been possible in South Asia.
“What is the problem here? A Punjabi could dance in Kandahar and a Pashtun could come here. Even if we are not formally one country, we could have effectively functioned like one,” he said.
The Pakistani politician also referred to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the later U.S.-led intervention, saying Afghanistan has the right to seek war reparations from those countries to support reconstruction efforts.
Achakzai further criticised the treatment of Pashtuns in Pakistan, alleging that individuals in cities including Lahore and Karachi have faced detention and deportation.
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