Prevent Millions of Children From Dying of Starvation in Afghanistan

Dear Mr. President: On February 11, 2022, you signed an executive order to freeze $7.1bn of Afghan funds held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. You plan to divide the money: half for the families of the September 11 victims; half for the people of Afghanistan. In 21 years, no proof has ever been established that links the Taliban or Afghanistan to the 9/11 attacks. In fact the Long- Secret FBI Report Reveals New Connections Between 9/11 Hijackers and Saudi Religious Officials in U.S. 1*.

Mr. Biden you said that your administration "will seek to facilitate access to the $3.5bn for the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan's future... pending a judgment subject to ongoing litigation by US victims of terrorism." Sir, you must act to rescind the executive order: The full amount of the $7.1 billion must be returned to the Central Bank of Afghanistan DAF. and to the people of Afghanistan immediately. Otherwise, the children of Afghanistan have no future. And millions of Afghan families will die in the coming months.

A legal judgement to divide Afghan funds can not and will not satisfy all parties. It is unjust and cruel. Millions of people starving children have no time to wait. They have suffered from 20 years of war, two years of drought, a pandemic and starvation.

Mass starvation is a form of terror on a scale that even the Taliban could not conceive. Food must not be weaponized. Food deprivation is a (CAH) Crime Against humanity: 2* A UN appointed auditor or, team of auditors, must be established now to securely disburse the Afghan funds. This will ensure that the funds are not intercepted or stolen by the Taliban or corrupt officials.

The United States has refused to recognize the Taliban government. But the U.S. and the UN must now recognize the grave danger: that millions of Afghan children will starve to death In the coming months. You must not subordinate or ignore this emergency.

The resourceful Taliban will not suffer from starvation. Afghanistan's children are the ones suffering starvation.

Mr. Biden you have offered a generous $33 billion in new aid to Ukraine. You should extend this generosity to the starving children of Afghanistan! They deserve equal attention. Only 7% of Afghans report that they have enough food to eat. 4* Afghanistan lost 40% of its crops last year due to drought.*5

The UDHR -The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11, establishes the right to food and details states' obligations: The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger ,shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programs, which are needed to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need. Signatories thus bind themselves to taking affirmative steps to prevent starvation. As Asbjorn Fide notes, Article 11 "establishes a set of obligations on states that, if fully implemented, would prevent famines from arising."

The current population of Afghanistan in 2022 is 40,754,388, a 2.1% increase from 2021. Source: macrotrends. That's approximately the population of Canada. As of end January,2022, 95% of the population has insufficient food consumption. Source: World Food Programme. (WFP 31 Jan 2022) 22.8 million people- half the population-are projected to be acutely food insecure in 2022, including 8.7 million people at risk of famine like conditions, with all 34 provinces facing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. Source: (OCHA March 7, 2022). 1* Source: PROPUBLICA- Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest By Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella, Sept 12. 2021.

2* Source: Save the Children. 3* Source: Diana Kearney, Intl Law. 4* Source: Save the Children
5* Source. World Food Programme (WFP) .