Humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan
Starvation and hunger is sweeping across Afghanistan due a collapse in the economy. What has led to this catastrophic crisis is primarily the fault of the U.S. government by freezing Afghan assets in U.S. banks, and U.S. policies that are in place.
In article written by Jean Athey of Peace Action, she states the following about Afghanistan:
“The economy went into free-fall, the government could not pay workers, banks closed, and people had no money to buy food or anything else, such as fuel for the harsh winter”. She continued on and reported that “families are selling their children-both very young boys and girls-in order to obtain money to buy enough food to prevent the rest of the family from starving to death”.
So what can we do? We can continue advocating for the people of Afghanistan to our members of Congress. This can be done by writing letters and emails lobbying for the Afghan assets to be unfrozen, so the people can have access to their own money, and to provide relief to the famine that is occurring.
What is happening is a human rights issue. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Article 25 states,
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care”.
This right is not being upheld in Afghanistan right now. Millions are suffering and without proper food and access. It impedes on their rights as human beings and it is not acceptable for the U.S. to sit back and let it happen, especially when they are largely responsible.
For more information, please read Jean Athey’s full article here and watch the short video below.
Tags: economic justice, human rights, immigrant refugee justice, peace education, resist militarism