On Friday, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order. Under this, out of $ 7 billion $ 3.5 billion will be spent on Afghan civilians, while the remaining half will go to American citizens who were killed in their own 9/11 attacks.
Biden had three options. First- freeze the funds indefinitely. Second – the entire funds should be given to the Taliban regime and third – they should be given as compensation to the families of 9/11 victims.
At present, these funds of $ 7 billion are present in the Federal Reserve of New York. The US court has postponed hearings and decisions three times on the Biden Administration’s appeal. But, now this will not happen. There is also a truth that the court will give the final verdict on this.
According to the White House, funds will be provided to help the people of Afghanistan in such a way that no part of it is in the hands of the Taliban government. There was pressure on America to release funds in view of the troubles of 40 million people in Afghanistan. The US has made it clear that the Taliban will have to fulfill all their promises, especially related to the education of women and girls.
On August 15, even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the president, the entire government, and even the chairman of the Afghan Central Bank fled the country. Now there was no legal authority to whom this reserve could be given.
According to US law, these funds cannot be assigned to anyone other than the democratic government. The Taliban have no legal right to receive these funds, as they are not an elected government. On the other hand, it is also true that the stagnation of these funds has created a crisis of money and subsequent hunger in Afghanistan.
The White House was not ready to speak openly on this matter, but it is also true that for months Justice, State, Treasury, and Security officials were trying to find a solution to this matter. These funds belong to the Afghan Central Bank, which is present in the US Federal Reserve in the form of currency, bonds, and gold.
However, these are the funds that Afghanistan received in the form of foreign aid or foreign exchange during 20 years. Among them are the deposits of ordinary Afghan citizens.
It seems that the Biden Administration will no longer oppose the Court’s decision because it has decided to release the frozen funds. It is being done in two parts. However, a report suggests that the final verdict on compensation is yet to be given by the court.
The second part can be made an Afghan trust and handed over to it. That is, instead of the Taliban, this money will go to that trust and it can spend it on improving the lives of the Afghan people. Biden can create a separate account and transfer these funds to it and appoint a representative for it. However, voices can be raised against it only in America. The objection that may come is that it is to recognize the Taliban through another door.
