Amidst an economic crisis and signs of an immigrant crisis, Taliban leaders demand international aid

Taliban officials are calling for international aid to confront a deepening economic crisis, which raises fears of new waves of immigrants. While the foreign minister in the Taliban government says the responsibility to help his country recover after decades of war lies with countries like the United States.

Senior Taliban officials on Saturday called for international aid to confront a deepening economic crisis that has raised fears of new waves of immigrants from Afghanistan.

The comments, which they made during a special meeting on the occasion of the United Nations International Migrants Day, highlight the Taliban government's effort to reach out to the international community four months after it seized power in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said the responsibility to help Afghanistan recover after decades of war rests with countries like the United States, which have frozen billions of dollars in Afghan Central Bank reserves.

He added at the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, that "the impact of the frozen funds falls on ordinary people and not on the Taliban authorities."

UN agencies say millions of Afghans could face starvation during the winter unless urgent aid reaches the country, but the aid is hampered by an international reluctance to engage directly with the Taliban, partly due to concerns about women's rights and political rights.

The sudden halt in foreign aid after the Taliban victory pushed the country's fragile economy to the brink of collapse. The country has millions of unemployed people and the banking system is partially functioning.

"If the political and economic situation does not change, there will be more immigrants," Stanikzai said.

The United States issued directives allowing personal cash transfers to Afghanistan, but it did not soften its position on ending the freeze on Afghan Central Bank deposits amounting to nine billion dollars or lifting sanctions on a number of Taliban leaders.

And met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Islamabad today, Saturday, ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Mottaki said the Taliban welcome humanitarian relief organizations and pledge to allow them to operate without hindrance.

57 Muslim countries participate in the Islamabad Conference to help Afghanistan

Packages from a Turkish humanitarian aid group distributed amongst Afghans in Kabul

Today, Sunday, representatives of 57 Islamic countries began in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, an extraordinary meeting devoted to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

In a speech he delivered during the opening session of the conference, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, called for respect for Afghanistan's sovereignty, integrity and territorial integrity.

In turn, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that Afghanistan stands at a crossroads, and maintaining its security and stability is a priority for the international community. The Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki had said that he would ask the participants to return their countries to Kabul, and open their offices and embassies, pledging that his government would provide them with security and protection.

As for Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, he warned against not rushing to provide humanitarian support to the people of Afghanistan, and said that there are real dangers of a repetition of the Afghan refugee tragedy if the world does not rush to help them.

The Pakistani minister had said that the meeting would speak "on behalf of the Afghan people" and not on behalf of a "certain group" of the population.

Qureshi pointed out that "there is a difference between recognizing" the new regime in Kabul and "dealing with it." "We have to encourage them, through persuasion and incentive measures, to go in the right direction," he told reporters ahead of the summit.

And the Pakistani minister believed that "the policy of coercion and intimidation did not succeed. If it succeeded, we would not be in this situation."

The convening of the conference comes in light of fears of a major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan with the onset of winter, and the continued freezing of billions of dollars in aid and assets by the international community following the return of the Taliban to power.

The United Nations says Afghanistan, with a population of 38 million, faces "one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters", while the United Nations World Food Program has warned of a dangerous famine ahead.

In addition to the representatives of the OIC countries who will attend the headquarters of the Pakistani Parliament, representatives of the United States, China, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations will participate in the conference.

No country has yet recognized the Taliban government, which took power in mid-August after the withdrawal of US forces from the country, and today's conference also constitutes a diplomatic test for Taliban leaders.