UN adopts Afghanistan resolution, but no ‘safe zone’

The resolution requires the Taliban to honour their commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution requiring the Taliban to honour their commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan, but the measure did not include a “safe zone” mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The resolution – drafted by the United States, United Kingdom and France – was passed on Monday with 13 votes in favour and no objections. China and Russia abstained.

The resolution said that the council expects the Taliban to allow a “safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals”.

“The Security Council expects the Taliban to live up to its commitment to facilitate safe passage for Afghans and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan today as well as going forward,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, said in a news conference shortly after the resolution was adopted.

The resolution refers to an August 27 Taliban statement in which the group said Afghans would be able to travel abroad, and leave Afghanistan any time they want to, including by any border crossing, both air and ground.

The Security Council “expects that the Taliban will adhere to these and all other commitments,” the resolution said.

Macron had raised hopes of more concrete proposals in comments published in the weekly Journal du Dimanche during the weekend.

He said Paris and London would present a draft resolution which “aims to define, under UN control, a ‘safe zone’ in Kabul, that will allow humanitarian operations to continue,” Macron said.

“I am very hopeful that it will be successful. I don’t see who could be against making humanitarian projects secure,” he said.

But the UN resolution on the table is far less ambitious. It is not clear whether another resolution proposing a “safe zone” will be circulated later on.

Experts said the text was watered down to ensure China and Russia would not use their vetoes to block it, including softening some of the language related to the Taliban.

“This is a pretty thin text,” said Richard Gowan, UN expert at the International Crisis Group.

“Macron was guilty of overselling the idea of a safe zone at Kabul airport this weekend, or at least not communicating very clearly,” Gowan told the AFP news agency.

“The resolution does at least send a political signal to the Taliban about the need to keep the airport open and help the UN deliver aid,” he added.

The text calls for the Taliban to allow “full, safe, and unhindered access” for the UN and other agencies to provide humanitarian assistance.

It also “reaffirms the importance” of upholding human rights, including of children, women and minorities and encourages all parties to seek an inclusive, negotiated political settlement with the “full, equal and meaningful representation of women”.

The text also calls for Afghanistan to “not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts”.

The resolution comes as international efforts to airlift foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans out of the country come to an end after the Taliban swept back into power on August 15, with the US withdrawing from the country after 20 years.

France ended its evacuation efforts on Friday and the UK followed suit on Saturday.

US troops have been scrambling in dangerous and chaotic conditions to complete an enormous evacuation operation from the Kabul airport by a Tuesday deadline.