Ex-UK PM Gordon Brown accuses West of 'sleepwalking' on Afghanistan crisis: Report

Referring to Afghanistan's crisis following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in mid-August, Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, on Wednesday, stated that the West is "sleepwalking" into the biggest humanitarian crisis of recent times.  He urged the international community to contribute to the "largest humanitarian response ever agreed upon for a single country," warning that the country is "on the verge of economic and social collapse."

According to Brown, more than half of the Afghan population is facing acute hunger, including a million children who are on the verge of dying due to hunger. 

Brown cited the United Nations and International Monetary Fund (IMF) predictions that Afghanistan's economy will shrink by 20-30% in the coming year, a figure he described as "unprecedented."

"Afghanistan may be the only country in modern history to suffer from such universal poverty. It's ironic that, as the international community commits to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - to lift everyone out of poverty by the end of the decade - practically every Afghan citizen would be consigned to the dire fate," he wrote in an article for The Times, as reported by Daily Mail. 

The people in the war-torn country are unable to withdraw cash from ATMs, and the cash problem has been compounded by the Taliban's prohibition on foreign currency, despite the fact that the Afghan economy is mostly based on dollars, Brown said. All of these issues have been exacerbated by one of the most severe droughts in recent memory, he added. As thousands of Afghans face starvation or emigration, Brown warned the impact of Afghanistan's poverty problem could be seen as far away as Europe. He also cautioned that by "standing aside" since August's withdrawal, the West was encouraging the "exploitation of grievances and anti-western animosity, which might come back to haunt us."

Brown seeks $4.5 billion support for Afghanistan

Brown also appealed for global support for a $4.5 billion proposal from the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to help 22 million of Afghanistan's most vulnerable people. "The war in Afghanistan cost the United States trillions of dollars. We have the ability to find 4 billion dollars to avert starvation in the midst of this crisis. This foretold tragedy cannot remain unresolved," he added in the article. 

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report, published last month, around 55% of the Afghan population is likely to be in a state of crisis or emergency food insecurity between now to March next year. The UN agency raised alarm in its situation report about 'conditional humanitarianism,' or attempts to use humanitarian aid for political gain. 

(Image: AP)