The remarks, made at a special session marking UN Refugee Day, highlighted the pressure on the new Taliban government to negotiate with the international community four months after taking power in Kabul. The movement’s deputy foreign minister, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai, said it was the responsibility of countries like the United States, which have withheld billions of dollars in central bank reserves, to help rebuild Afghanistan after decades of war.

“The impact of the frozen funds is on the common people and not Taliban authorities,” he told the conference, attended by representatives of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the United Nations refugee organisation.

“If the political and economic situation doesn’t change, there will be more migration,” Stanikzai said.

UN agencies estimate that without immediate help, millions of Afghans could face winter starvation, but due to concerns over women’s rights and political participation, there has been a lack of international interest in direct contact with the Taliban.

The sudden withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban’s victory has pushed Afghanistan’s fragile economy to the brink of collapse. Millions are unemployed and the banking system is only partially functioning.

The United States has issued guidelines that would allow the transfer of personal cash to Afghanistan, but has not stopped refusing to release $9 billion in central bank reserves or lift sanctions on several Taliban leaders.

Ahead of a meeting of OIC foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki met with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Islamabad on Saturday. He said the Taliban welcomed international humanitarian organizations and assured them that they would be allowed to operate without interruption.

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