EU Imposes Restrictions On Taliban Officials

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• The European Council has imposed restrictive measures against three senior officials of the de facto authorities (DfA) for their role in depriving Afghan girls and women of their “right to education, access to justice and equal treatment between men and women”. The restrictions were imposed on the acting Minister of Education, Mawlawi Habibullah Akhund, and his counterpart for Justice, Mawlawi Abdul Hakim Sharei, as well as the acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mawlawi Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The three could face sanctions ranging from asset freeze, restrictions from accessing funds from EU citizens and companies, and travel bans.
• According to a local media outlet, the acting Deputy Minister of Economy, Abdul Latif Nazari, has indicated that the DfA is working on a plan to allow women to return to the workplace, stating that current restrictions are not necessarily permanent. The Deputy Minister noted that there are currently 14,000 women working in airports as well as in the health and banking sectors. The outlet also reported that officials from the Ministry of Economy had stated that projects implemented by non-governmental organizations would now have to abide by rules set out by the DfA.
• Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Asad Durrani, was on a three-day visit to Afghanistan, where he held discussions with the acting Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir, acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and other officials. The discussions mainly focused on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – believed to have cells in Afghanistan and blamed for a series of major attacks in Pakistan – which has strained relations between the two countries.
• Former President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, held talks with the European Union’s envoy in Afghanistan, Raffaella Iodice, where he appealed for EU support in the advancement of education in Afghanistan, particularly for girls. Since the Taliban came into power almost two years ago, education for women and girls has been capped at the sixth grade.

 

OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

 

• On 25 July, UNHCR was part of a meeting convened by the Resident Coordinator’s Office to discuss the Results Groups of the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) The Groups, established in each of the UNSFA priority areas, i.e., (a) Sustained Essential Services, (b) Economic Opportunities, Resilient Livelihoods and Social Cohesion, and (c) Inclusion, Gender Equality, Human Rights, and Rule of Law, were formed to coordinate the technical-level implementation of the UNSFA. UNHCR and UN Women co-chair the Results Group on Rights. UNHCR will maintain an active participation within the other two Result Groups. UNSFA replaces the Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF), which expired in June 2023.
• The Head of the Legal Affairs Service (LAS), Lance Bartholomeusz, concluded his mission to Afghanistan last week. During his mission, he met with different key stakeholders to have a stronger understanding of the Afghan context – an important knowledge for him, as he is a member of a Multi-Functional Team (MFT) formed three months ago, comprising a team from Afghanistan, the Regional Bureau, and HQ. The MFT is working on the risk survey of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) as well as on issues raised in the SIGAR questionnaire on UN operations in Afghanistan. The Head of LAS also held meetings with other UN agencies, the ICRC, and NGOs to understand how they engage with the DfA and line ministries. The information gathered from those meetings will help guide the Afghan operation in its own engagement with MoRR, noting that UNHCR did not sign a Partnership Agreement with the ministry for 2023.
• During the period under review, the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Coordinator briefed the Humanitarian Country Team on the issue of the impending eviction risk facing an estimated 100,000 people across over 54 informal settlements (ISETs) in Kabul (70,000) and seven ISETs in Jalalabad (30,000). The coordinator informed that there is an existing challenge in assisting the evicted population, due to lack of a common roadmap between the humanitarian and development actors, as well as the DfA. There is also limited funding to adequately address the needs of evicted populations. Last year, the DfA announced plans to close informal settlements, citing security and development reasons.
• On 17 July, the Protection Cluster briefed the US Government (USG) on the structure, role, and responsibilities of the Cluster, as well as the overall protection situation in the country. The USG was also briefed on the activities of the different sub-clusters such as Child Protection, Gender Based Violence, and Housing, Land and Property (HLP). USG officials raised queries related to the cluster’s priorities, number of females implementing protection activities and the mainstreaming of protection across the humanitarian sector, among others.
• According to the ICRC, children are bearing the brunt of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and abandoned weapons in Afghanistan. ICRC indicates that at least 640 children have either died or been injured by incidences involving landmine explosions and explosive remnants between January 2022 and June 2023. The number of children affected is close to 60 percent of the total number (1,092) of civilian casualties. The incidences are a particular threat to returnees going back home to their areas of origin after decades of fighting in Afghanistan.
• At least 30 people are feared dead while scores more have been reported missing or injured following days of floods that also reportedly left 600 houses damaged. The most affected areas are Maidan Wardak and Khost Provinces as well as the Kabul area. The DfA spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement indicating that the DfA was committed to helping those affected.
• Based on the Afghan Refugee Return Database (ARRD), as of 20 July, a total of 7,386 refugees had returned to Afghanistan under UNHCR’s facilitated VolRep Program in 2023. The individuals returned from Pakistan (7,005), Iran (301), India (38), Nepal (9), Tajikistan (22) and Russia (11). The 2023 figures have seen a significant increase compared to 2022 (1,363 returnees) and 2021 (1,173).
• Based on figures [from the PowerBi Tracking Tool] for the period 18 to 13 July 2023, UNHCR female staff continue to work from home, the office, or field sites, under health and education exemptions or local authorizations. Increasingly, they are reporting to the office or going to sites voluntarily without authorizations. On average, at least 10 women are present in the office or site daily, since the new work modalities were put in place in May. In addition, figures indicate that 47 percent of Partner female staff worked at field sites by the end of June, compared to 25 percent by the end of March. According to the Partnership Agreements (PAs), the number of female partner staff rose, at the end of June, to 404 women, out of whom 41 were seasonal staff, compared to 367 at the end of March. This increase is largely attributed to informal authorizations obtained at the field level. While these authorizations are welcome and help in facilitating humanitarian outreach, it must be noted, however, that they are temporal, unreliable, short-term and time bound, as they are largely dependent on the disposition of local officials. These authorizations can be withdrawn just as swiftly as they are given.

 

OPERATIONAL SECURITY

 

• There were no significant changes to the country security situation since the previous reporting period. Crime and arrests were the main incident drivers.
• Reports indicate that the de facto Security Forces (DfSF) clashed with Pakistani guards at the border area of Gawai, Jaji Aryoub district in Paktiya Province. There was no further information at the time of reporting.
• The DfA is reported to be targeting former government and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) officials. Search and arrest operations are ongoing leading to detention of opponents from past regimes.
• Going by the current continued arrests and widespread search operation trends, there is an indication that the DfSF has less specific intelligence on Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) operations and membership.