KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has held a high-level meeting aimed at coordinating the deployment of Afghan workers to foreign countries.
The meeting, chaired by Abdul Manan Omari, Taliban’s head of the ministry, was attended by senior Taliban officials, including Amir Khan Muttaqi, the group’s foreign minister.
According to a statement from the ministry on Saturday, the discussion focused on facilitating the process of sending Afghan workers abroad and creating better conditions for laborers within Afghanistan.
The statement highlighted a resolution to streamline and expedite the process. It called on relevant departments to fulfill their responsibilities more effectively to ensure smoother operations and enhanced support for Afghan workers overseas.
Sending Afghan workers to Qatar and other Gulf nations was a key pledge of the previous government but was never implemented. The Taliban now seeks to revive and expand these plans amid a worsening unemployment crisis.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan’s economic situation has sharply deteriorated. The country’s poverty rate has soared, with the United Nations estimating that 85% of the population now lives below the poverty line. The loss of foreign aid and international sanctions has further strained the fragile economy.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) reports that Afghanistan’s real GDP has plummeted by 29% since the Taliban regained power. Additionally, restrictions on women’s rights—particularly their exclusion from education and most professions—have caused an estimated economic loss of between $600 million and $1 billion annually.
The economic collapse has driven many Afghans to seek work abroad, especially in neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan. However, Afghan laborers in these nations often face exploitation, harassment, and restrictive working conditions. For those who remain, options are limited to low-paying jobs, such as street vending, in a shrinking domestic job market.
