Ex UK PM Brown: West is 'sleepwalking' into biggest humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan

The West is "sleepwalking into the biggest humanitarian disaster" in Afghanistan, warned ex-UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown while calling for an urgent economic package to save the war-torn country from a social collapse. Noting that more than half of the Afghan population is facing extreme hunger, including 1 million "at-risk" children starving to death, Brown in an op-ed for The Times mentioned that Afghanistan is suffering from "universal poverty" like no other country. Citing International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, he also highlighted that the country's economy would contract by 20%-30% in 2022.'

"No country in recent times is suffering from such universal poverty in the way of Afghanistan may do," ex-UK PM Gordon Brown wrote in The Times.

"It is ironic that when the whole International community is pledged to achieve the sustainable development goals - to free all the world from absolute poverty this decade - almost every citizen of Afghanistan will be condemned to that dire fate," he added.

Calling for robust actions to ensure the crisis is dealt with, Brown stressed that the aftermath will be felt across Europe and other countries as the Afghan citizens will be left with the choice of starving or emigrating. "Instead of no absolute poverty in any country, we will have the horror of practically an entire country living in absolute poverty," he said. In addition, he also recalled that the US spent trillions of dollars to fight the Afghan war, so "it is not beyond our capacity to find $4 billion to prevent starvation amid this uneasy peace."

8 million people in Afghanistan are on the brink of famine

In a recent report published by the Disasters Emergency Committee, at least 8 million people in Afghanistan are on the brink of famine. Moreover, a total of 95% of the entire population is facing starvation. The situation compounded by COVID pandemic, drought, winter and suspension of electricity supply has mired into chaos. Collapsing public finances, increasing pressure on the banking system, and rising poverty could also plunge more than 97% of the 23 million people in Afghanistan below the poverty line by mid-2022, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had warned in September. It is pertinent to mention that Afghanistan is in a downward spiral since the Taliban overtook Kabul after the hasty withdrawal of the US and allied forces. Following this, the suspension of international aid due to lack of inclusive government and increasing human rights violations has further pushed Afghanistan into a pit of what UN Chief Antonio Guterres termed as "humanitarian catastrophe."  

(Image: AP)