Latest News
UN warns Afghanistan economy in ‘freefall’
Under-Secretary-General for the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths painted a grim picture on Sunday of 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 percent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students – Afghanistan’s future – out of school.
Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Griffiths said the crisis is unfolding as the value of the Afghani currency plummets, a lack of confidence in the financial sector destroys trade and the space for borrowing and investment dramatically constricts.
“The need for liquidity and stabilization of the banking system is now urgent – not only to save the lives of the Afghan people but also to enable humanitarian organizations to respond”, he said.
Griffiths also welcomed the decision by the World Bank’s Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to transfer $280 million by the end of December to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
“This step should be followed by reprogramming of the whole fund to support the Afghan people this winter”, he said.
“Families simply do not have the cash for everyday transactions, while prices for key commodities continue to rise”.
The cost of wheat and fuel are up by around 40 percent and food now accounts for more than 80 percent of the average household expenditure.
And as international development support has frozen up, basic social services that all Afghans depend on are collapsing.
Griffiths cautioned that by the middle of next year, universal poverty – reaching 97 percent of the population – could be “the next grim milestone”.
“Within a year, 30 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product could be lost altogether, while male unemployment may double to 29 percent”, he spelled out.
The OIC met on Sunday to express their willingness to help avert disaster and contribute to the humanitarian endeavor.
Griffiths meanwhile also said that next year, the UN would seek its largest-ever funding appeal of $4.5 billion “to help the most vulnerable in Afghanistan”.
The plan is a stopgap measure for over 21 million people who need lifesaving assistance and must be funded as “a matter of priority”, he said.
“The crisis is huge. Our humanitarian response is effective and continues to scale up, thanks to generous donor support and your sustained engagement”, he stated.
Griffiths also said that Afghanistan will not get through the winter on emergency aid alone and stressed the need for “flexible donor funding” that can be used to ensure salaries for public sector workers and support to basic services, such as health, education, electricity and livelihood.
He said going forward, continued constructive engagement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) authorities was imperative to “clarify what we expect of each other”.
“The consequences of inaction on these three fronts are clear: Afghanistan will collapse, people will run out of hope, and the region – and indeed the world – will see destabilization increase”, he underscored.
Noting that the OIC meeting was being held at “a moment of exceptional gravity for the people of Afghanistan”, Griffiths pointed out that “we have the advantage of being forewarned of the fate that awaits them if we do not act”.
Acknowledging that the meeting has provided both a chance and an opportunity to do so, he warned that “if we do not act with urgency and with a collective will, then there will be a terrible reckoning”.
“We cannot fail to do what we know is right, and what we know is possible”, concluded the Emergency Coordinator.
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
Security forces at the Islam Qala border in Herat province prevented hundreds of young Afghans from illegally entering Iran.
Officials from the 207 Al-Farooq Army Corps said that around 530 people attempted over the past two days to illegally enter Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district in Herat, but border forces detained them and transferred them back to their original areas.
Meanwhile, some sources said that a group of 70 people who were heading to Iran on Wednesday through areas of Kohsan district became stranded amid cold weather and snowfall, resulting in the deaths of two of them.
Sources at the Islam Qala border in Herat also confirmed that in recent days hundreds of people have illegally entered Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district, and that due to severe cold and heavy snowfall, five of them have lost their lives.
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
Japan allocates nearly $20 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
Afghan border forces prevent illegal entry of hundreds into Iran
US pauses green card lottery program after Brown University shooting
India issues over 200 medical visas to Afghans in last four months
Dozens of U.S. lawmakers oppose Afghan immigration freeze after Washington shooting
Afghanistan U19 cricket team defeats India A U19
Afghanistan economy under pressure as Pakistan shocks reshape trade flows
Gaza death toll tops 70,000, health ministry says
India set to establish pharmaceutical factories in Afghanistan: MoIC
Afghanistan offers tax breaks, free land to attract Indian investors
Tahawol: Global concerns over migration escalation discussed
Saar: Calls for Afghanistan’s balanced, economy-oriented foreign policy discussed
Tahawol: Discussion on regional countries’ meetings on Afghanistan
Saar: Regional efforts to address Afghanistan-Pakistan issues discussed
Tahawol: Officials say interactions must be based on realities
-
Latest News4 days agoGermany speeds up admission of Afghans from Pakistan
-
Sport4 days agoIPL 2026 Auction set for Abu Dhabi with $28.6 million purse at stake
-
Latest News4 days agoAfghanistan to establish independent oil and gas authority
-
Sport5 days agoATN to broadcast ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025’
-
Latest News4 days agoUS intelligence chief warns of ‘direct threat’ from suspected terrorists inside the country
-
Latest News3 days agoIEA supreme leader stresses enforcement of Sharia law and sincere public service
-
International Sports4 days agoILT20: Desert Vipers qualify for playoffs with five-wicket win over Dubai Capitals
-
World4 days agoFather and son behind Bondi Jewish festival shooting that killed 15, Australian police say