Qatar criticizes steps to restrict Afghan women’s freedoms
A roadmap and monitoring mechanism should be established for financial support to the Afghan government
The hopeless will resort to violence or mass migration
HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned Western countries of the danger of continuing to boycott Afghanistan and not communicating with the Taliban, stressing that doing so would risk the fall of Afghanistan into deeper chaos and the escalation of extremism.
In an interview with the Financial Times, HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that maintaining the status quo “where the West is boycotting Afghanistan, and focusing only on a part of humanitarian activities through international agencies” will not keep Afghanistan intact, we may see a rise in extremism.
His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani added, “We will start to see an economic crisis that has already begun, and this will only push people to more extremism and conflict, and this is what we are trying to avoid.”
His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs also criticized the steps that restrict women’s freedoms in Afghanistan, but stressed that if the international community had dealt with the Taliban regime more aggressively after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, it would have prevented the movement from taking some of its measures, and added: We believe that if we had dealt earlier we would not have allowed such things to happen, at the moment it is very important not to let the situation get worse and we may end up with a very chaotic situation in Afghanistan.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed the need for a clear road map on Afghanistan, because this would put all parties in front of their responsibilities and this would be the only way forward, stressing at the same time that the international community should engage on the economic front and build capacity Within government to help boost employment and growth, while ensuring that the Taliban engage with all parties in Afghanistan to create sustainable peace.
When asked whether the West should provide financial support to the Taliban government, he said that there should be reciprocal measures and a very strict monitoring mechanism, and added, “The more we support the government funding there, to make sure the right people get the money, it’s not just about becoming the Taliban. “More extreme, but the people who are losing hope in Afghanistan. What will they resort to? I think that will be our biggest problem, they will either resort to violence or mass migration.”
