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Indonesia reinstates embassy in Kabul but holds off official recognition of Taliban
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Airport staff at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul unload humanitarian assistance on Jan. 9. Indonesia has sent two airplanes full of aid relief to help ease the burden of widespread famine. (Courtesy of Indonesian Foreign Ministry/-)
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ndonesia has reinstated its representative office in Kabul mainly to coordinate and monitor the distribution of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, while still holding off on diplomatic recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of the country.
Following a high-stake citizen rescue mission in late August, the Indonesian mission to Afghanistan was temporarily moved to Islamabad, Pakistan.
Shortly after the Taliban took over Afghanistan from a United States-backed government, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry had planned to maintain its mission in Kabul with a team of essential personnel only, but later decided to take all of its citizens out of the country amid a chaotic situation on the ground.
With the international community freezing its assets abroad and halting funding, Afghanistan is now facing a “tsunami of hunger” according to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), with roughly 23 million people, more than half of the total population, living under the threat of starvation. It also estimates upwards of 3 million children face the risk of malnutrition.
Indonesia last week sent two airplanes full of aid to Afghanistan to help ease an unraveling humanitarian crisis in the conflict-ridden country.
Read also: Indonesia mobilizes humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said a team from Jakarta assigned to monitor the distribution of Indonesia’s humanitarian aid was also assisted by the essential team, which has now returned to Kabul.
