UN human rights experts have appealed to the United States to end its freeze on Afghanistan’s foreign assets following the humanitarian situation in the country.

The group of experts said the Da Afghanistan Bank has more than $7billion in blocked reserves that can be used to provide desperately-needed humanitarian relief to tens of millions in the country.

The rights experts in a statement said that humanitarian exemptions to Afghan sanctions agreed to by UN Security Council in December 2021 had led to “no significant progress” in financial or commercial aid to Afghanistan.

Gravely concerned about the humanitarian crisis in the country, the experts said it “puts at serious risk the lives of more than half of the country’s population.”

In February, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to continue to block the cash and reportedly use part of the funds for purposes within the U.S. instead of the immediate and longer-term humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.

According to international assessments, Afghanistan has the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity globally, with more than 23 million needing assistance.

Approximately 95 per cent of the population has insufficient food consumption.

The experts said the U.S. executive order might exacerbate the climate of uncertainty among relevant actors, resulting in over-zealous compliance with sanctions, thus preventing Afghans from access to basic humanitarian goods.

The UN experts called on the U.S. to consider the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and re-assess its decision to block the Da Afghanistan Bank’s foreign assets.

(NAN)