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Afghanistan envoys aim for future meetings with IEA, says UN chief

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said international envoys to Afghanistan hope for Islamic Emirate participation at their future meetings.

This comes after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) decided against participating at the Doha meeting.

Guterres said he hopes a "deadlock" between IEA authorities and the international community can be overcome.

He told a news conference that delegates had discussed "creating the conditions, in a next meeting, to have the presence of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan."

The UN had extended an invitation for IEA officials to participate, following their exclusion from the first meeting in May.

However, the Kabul government said they would not participate in the talks unless they could be the sole representative of Afghanistan at the meetings -- to the exclusion of civil society groups, AFP reported.

The UN had said that women were among the Afghan civil society representatives to the gathering of national and regional special envoys to Afghanistan.

A second demand was that the IEA government delegation meet with the UN secretary-general and be given an opportunity to present its position.

Guterres said he received a set of conditions to participate that "were not acceptable."

"These conditions, first of all, denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society," he said.

'Deadlock'

Many governments, international organizations and aid agencies cut off or severely scaled back their funding for Afghanistan in response to the IEA’s policies -- causing a serious knock to the already struggling economy.

"One of our main objectives is to overcome this deadlock," Guterres said, explaining a roadmap needed to be created in which "the concerns of the international community are taken into account. But the concerns of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan are also," he said.

Guterres said the meeting, which included the US, China, Pakistan and the European Union, had reached "total consensus" on proposals from a UN independent assessment on Afghanistan.

The assessment recommended the appointment of a UN special envoy. This proposal is backed by Western nations but rejected by the IEA authorities.

Guterres said he would begin a "serious process of consultations to see if there are conditions to create a UN envoy".

He said the proposed envoy could "have a coordinating role" in the country "and work effectively with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan".

The meeting had also aimed at a more coordinated response to the country.

Guterres said there had been discussion of a "contact group", with a "limited number of states able to have a more coordinated approach in the engagement with the de facto authorities".

He said this could include permanent members of the UN Security Council, neighboring countries and relevant donors but it would be "up to member states to decide how to create it".

"I believe it would be a way to have coherence in the way the international community is engaging with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan," he added.

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Eight Afghan migrants die as boat capsizes off Greek island

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Eight Afghan migrants died after a speedboat carrying migrants capsized off Greece's eastern island of Rhodes on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

Greek authorities said that the capsizing was the result of the boat’s maneuvering to evade a patrol vessel according to authorities.

A total of 18 migrants — 12 men, three women and three minors — all Afghan nationals, were rescued, Greece's coast guard said Saturday. The dead were also from Afghanistan, it said.

Some migrants remained hospitalized, with one in critical condition, authorities said.

Two Turkish citizens, ages 23 and 19, were arrested as the suspected traffickers. The boat sank after capsizing, the coast guard said.

The sinking off Rhodes was the second deadly incident involving migrants in the past week.

Seven migrants were killed and dozens were believed missing after a boat partially sank south of the island of Crete over the weekend — one of four rescue operations during which more than 200 migrants were rescued.

 

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Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires meets with IEA deputy foreign minister

Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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The Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Per Albert Ilsaas, on Saturday met with IEA’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanikzai, in Kabul.

Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In addition to focusing on bilateral political, humanitarian, and other pertinent issues, the two sides expressed hope that continued engagement would lead to constructive solutions to related issues.

This comes two weeks after the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi expressed disappointment regarding the decision by the Norwegian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

Balkhi said in a post on X that such decisions should not be linked with internal affairs of other countries.

“Diplomatic engagement is most effective when it fosters mutual understanding and respect, even amidst differing viewpoints,” he stated.

“Access to consular services is a fundamental right of all nationals. We strongly urge all parties to prioritize this principle in the spirit of international cooperation,” he added.

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A new polio vaccination campaign is set to launch in Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.

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The “Afghanistan Polio-Free” organization announced that a new round of polio vaccinations will begin on Monday, December 23, in various provinces of Afghanistan.

The organization did not specify which provinces will be targeted or how long the vaccination campaign will last.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.

On December 4, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement reporting a 283% increase in polio cases in Afghanistan. According to the WHO, the number of positive environmental samples for wild poliovirus type 1 in Afghanistan in 2024 reached 84, compared to 62 cases in 2023.

The Ministry of Public Health claimed in November 2024 that no new cases of polio had been reported in Afghanistan for the year.

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