Afghanistan: UN official suggests freezing ex-govt officials' assets amid financial crisis

As Afghanistan continues to face a difficult situation due to an escalating financial crisis, Afghanistan's UN mission has proposed freezing of assets that are illegally transferred to former Afghan government officials. As per a report by Tolo News, Chargé d'affaires of AFG Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq said at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Afghanistan that many former Afghan government officials were implicated in corruption and were today living a life of luxury overseas while the country was struggling and on the verge of disaster.

He continued by saying that he would like to request the freezing of all Afghan assets illegally transferred to the accounts of former government officials who were involved in corruption and embezzlement of international aid to the Afghan people, Tolo News reported. He further stated that they must be held accountable.

'28 million are starving': UN official

Naseer Ahmad Faiq said that it is inequitable that there are 28 million people that are starving and mothers sell their children to survive, while corrupt former government officials live in luxury houses and villas across Europe and the United States. He also urged the international community not to offer asylum to corrupt ex-Afghan officials, and that previous government officials involved in corruption be held accountable, Tolo News reported.

Political analyst Sayed Ali Riza Mahmoodi said that today, while Afghans are in the worst conditions and in desperate need of assistance, these corrupt former Afghan officials are living their lives outside of Afghanistan with money stolen from the Afghan people. As part of their support for Afghanistan, international donors sent billions of dollars to previous Afghan governments. The data suggests that the United States spent approximately $140 billion (over Rs 10.5 lakh crore) on reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Afghan citizens welcome Naseer Ahmad Faiq's proposal

The Afghans expressed dissatisfaction with former government officials' huge corruption, claiming that despite a large influx of aid, they continue to live in poverty. People of Afghanistan welcomed Naseer Ahmad Faiq's proposal and urged that the assets of previous corrupt Afghan officials be frozen.

Another reason for the financial crisis of the country is that after the Taliban took control of the country, the US froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan Central Bank in an attempt to keep a Taliban-led government from accessing the money.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: @AfghanMissionUN/Twitter/AP)