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The US has no right to take money that belongs to the Afghan people

As Afghans sell organs to buy food, the Biden administration announces it will allocate $7bn of seized Afghan assets to the victims of 9/11

By Nadia Ghulam
The US has no right to take money that belongs to the Afghan people
Thousands of Afghans gather in Kabul to call on the US to return $7bn of Afghan assets, 15 February 2022 | Saifurahan Safi/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
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I have been unable to sleep since I heard the horrible news that the US government will not be returning the money it seized six months ago to impoverished Afghans.

Last summer, Joe Biden’s administration responded to the Taliban coup by blocking $7bn of Afghan assets held in America. Now, the US has announced it will allocate half of this money to humanitarian aid projects in Afghanistan, and the other half to the victims of 9/11 and their families.

In both cases, the money will surely never reach the Afghan people – my people – who so desperately need it. It is a decision that will no doubt have a huge impact on their lives.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0