Release Afghanistan’s Frozen Funds Campaign

“No one can remain excluded because of his or her place of birth, much less because of privileges enjoyed by others who were born in lands of greater opportunity. The limits and borders of individual states cannot stand in the way of this.” He had been ill for several weeks and many thought he would…

Feeling threatened by the expansionism of their powerful neighbor – which is using antipersonnel mines on a large scale in its war against Ukraine – Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have announced their disastrous plan to turn their back on the Ottawa Treaty. Their withdrawal would be a repudiation of the promise made to their victims, and an admission of weakness. As warfare surges in an increasingly lawless…

Refugee repatriation is often championed as a solution that honours the right of return, a fundamental principle enshrined in international law. But how closely does this principle align with the realities faced by refugees and returnees? Are their rights, or is repatriation increasingly becoming a tool of political convenience? Voluntary repatriation, in theory, must always…

In 2024, 233,000 people were killed in wars, a 30 percent increase from 2023. The trend seemed inexorable. Political apathy in the face of relentless human suffering fuelled public disgust with government leaders. But then, on 8 December, came a rare piece of apparently good news. One of the world’s most brutal dictators, Bashar al-Assad…

“Between a rock and a hard place”: Afghans suffer the consequences of economic deprivation and Isolation – by Dr Florence Rigal and Manuel Patrouillard. Three years after the return of the Taliban and the gradual exclusion of women and girls from education, public spaces and employment with humanitarian organisations, the de facto government formed by…

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, most Western democracies, led in large part by the US, have pursued a policy of disengagement while humanitarian and development aid has dwindled. Yet, recently there have been increasing calls to start engaging more with the Taliban, not least from women like Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Mahbouba…

The U.S. is holding $3.5 billion of Afghan central bank assets in a trust fund—potentially violating bedrock international legal principles. In an article originally published on Lawfare, the authors detail the international legal principles that are undermined by the creation of the “Afghan Fund”.

Two years after the capture of Kabul, the Emirate is strong but crucial issues, including internal repression, affect its international legitimacy. A translated article originally by Giuliano Battiston, freelance journalist and researcher.

The Taliban authorities are fighting against poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Former EU Ambassador and UAI member, Jean-François Cautain, argues that the EU should seize the opportunity to fight against poppy cultivation by supporting farmers in their conversion to other crops.

Two years after the Taliban came to power, the people of Afghanistan are facing a dramatic situation. To help them, Europeans must stop modelling their policy on that of the United States in terms of military and security policy, argues Jean-François Cautain, former EU ambassador.

This round-table was hosted by the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies, with an introductory speech by United Against Humanity’s International Executive Committee member, Antonio Donini who addressed key differences and similarities in engaging the Taliban in the past and today. Here is the video recording of the round-table, below which you can find the description of the event, including of each speaker. This information is provided by the organisers of the event, the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies.

I am writing from Kabul where I have been living for these past 11 months. I consider myself a friend of Afghanistan, a country full of contrasts that I know since 1986; all in all, I have lived here for a little over 12 years. My return to Afghanistan was motivated by the desire, which I share with my wife who runs a medical NGO in Kabul, to help the Afghan population that is once again hostage to a modern “Great Game”, bringing violence and misery.

UAI’s April 2023 Newsletter covering news on Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the global Asylum system, amongst other items.

This Blog reviews how humanitarian actors and others have reacted to misogynistic Taliban Edicts while highlighting insights from prior experience during the first Taliban Emirate (September 1996 – end 2001). It concludes with some suggestions based on prior and contemporary experience.

There is a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the US has the power to prevent it from worsening, it just chooses not to.

Western relations with Saudi Arabia are good. Afghanistan is a pariah. Why do Western governments treat them in such opposite ways?

If Western governments and humanitarian actors abandon Afghans now, we will be condemning a whole nation to a grinding cycle of brutal poverty with unpredictable long-term consequences.

As the first anniversary of the return of the Taliban to power approaches, a lot of commentary focuses on the humanitarian crisis and the brutal policies of the new regime. At the same time, it is important not to forget the collapse of the economy and banking system provoked by the decision of the US…

This newsletter focuses on attempts to block aid to victims of war in Syria and Ethiopia and recent revelations about the conduct of UK Special Services Forces in Afghanistan

Ten months since the Biden Administration blocked the Afghan central bank from accessing the country’s external reserves – resources that belong to the people of Afghanistan – hunger stalks the land adding to the misery of citizens, including women and children, struggling with the consequences of Taliban rule.

The newsletter comments on the deportation of refugees (newly arrived in the UK) to Rwanda and the continuing demand for funds to be released to Afghanistan

Antonio Donini, co-founder and member of the International Executive Committee of UAI, wrote this article for Atlas of Wars. It was published on the Atlas of Wars website on the 30 April 2022.  Afghanistan is regularly portrayed as “the graveyard of empires”. The British, Soviets and now the US-led coalition have tried and failed to impose their rule…

9 March 2022 Dear Friends and Supporters Yesterday, UAI launched a major campaign to persuade President Biden , government leaders in Germany, Italy and the UK, and the Bank for International Settlements to release reserves belonging to the Afghan Central Bank. Assets with a total value of $9.1 billion are currently frozen in bank accounts…

Dear Friends, The year 2022 begins with a catastrophe unfolding in Afghanistan, fragile signs of a possible conclusion to the conflict in Ethiopia, and renewed evidence of the horrendous treatment being meted out by many governments to people seeking refuge from war and persecution. Afghanistan The situation in Afghanistan only gets worse, with snow and…

Drones have become a prominent feature of the way the United States is waging counter-insurgency operations and has drastically altered the way in which combat is conducted. But with the advent of this controversial weapon & the increasing evidence of civilian harm resulting for it, multiple questions arise on what the effect is going to be on efforts for accountability and justice, particularly in Afghanistan, writes Kaitlin Kaye. 

At the end of this year, what is the state of inhumanity for civilians in war and for refugees and asylum-seekers? This Newsletter reviews developments during the year in Ethiopia and Afghanistan and also highlights issues in Libya.

This is a synopsis, provided by the author, of a Masters dissertation, submitted at the University of Edinburgh. The research was carried out as part of a collaboration between the University and UAI.

While attention is rightly focused on the appalling events at Kabul airport, the potentially catastrophic collapse of the Afghan economy requires immediate action by the international community. Mark Bowden and Martin Barber’s article for Chatham House explains how this can be done.

Antonio Donini and Norah Niland, co-founders of UAI, write on Afghanistan for Global Geneva. Inclusive talks are the only option to end the surge in violence, civilian casualties, displacement and warfare in Afghanistan and build a political framework for a durable peace.

A new and insightful USA Today report shines an overdue spotlight on the lack of accountability of US military personnel, and the hollowness of their repeated denials of the extent of the death and destruction inflicted on the village of Azizabad close to the Shindand air base, Herat province, western Afghanistan in August 2008.    Brett Murphy of USA…

03 June 2019 –  As aerial bombardments increase in Afghanistan, so do civilian casualties – read the story from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism of one Afghan father in search for answers after an airstrike gone wrong destroyed his house and killed his wife and seven children, alongside four young cousins. As the Bureau was able…