Taliban foreign terrorist designation under review, Rubio says
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the US was reviewing whether to designate the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Mr Rubio was on Capitol Hill testifying before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on the proposed State Department budget.
The Taliban is designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.
FTO sanctions freeze the assets of the designated group. They differ from SDGT designations in that they make it a crime to provide 'material support or resources' to a designated group; members of an FTO are automatically inadmissible to the US; and victims of terrorist attacks and their survivors are able to file civil lawsuits against FTOs and the entities that support them, according to the Atlantic Council think tank.
The Taliban have ruled Afghanistan since 2021, retaking power after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Since it returned to power, the Taliban have reinstated their strict interpretation of Islamic law. They have essentially erased women and girls from public life, from schools to journalism to public parks, and have removed protections for minority ethnic and religious groups.
But critics have argued that an FTO designation often has the unintended consequence of obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid. Even before the US withdrawal, Afghanistan was a major recipient of US and other foreign aid, and the assistance continues to help prop up its economy.
Mr Rubio's comments come after the US announced Afghanistan would be removed from the list of countries whose citizens have Temporary Protected Status.
The Department of Homeland Security said that 'conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements' for TPS, which provides protection from deportation as well as the ability to work in the US to citizens of countries experiencing conflict or other crises.
'This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,' said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 'Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilising economy no longer prevents them from returning to their home country.'
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