Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Conclusion 41
2nd Report - The UK and Afghanistan
Published 13 Jan 2021
Paragraph 203
International Relations and Defence Committee The UK and Afghanistan All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The UK’s presence in and funding for Afghanistan appears to contribute little to the UK’s identified national security interest of countering the narcotics trade. The problem is seemingly intractable, in the context of ongoing conflict and insecurity, the dependence of millions of rural Afghans on opium poppies for their livelihoods and the involvement of multiple powerful actors in the drug economy.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 2nd Report - The UK and Afghanistan, paragraph 203, 13 January 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 March 2021 (deadline 13 March 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says Afghanistan "remains a priority" and agrees with a number of the Committee's conclusions, while stating that it does not judge counter-narcotics efforts to have "ultimately failed" and that the cut in aid spending is temporary.
- On a multinational approach, the government says it "agree[s] with the committee's recommendation that the UK should seek to reinforce the multinational approach" and "will continue to do so".
- On counter-narcotics, it does "not judge that UK and international counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan have 'ultimately failed'" but recognises "the many challenges which continue to inhibit all such efforts".
- On aid, it states it will "temporarily move to a target of spending 0.5%" of GNI on ODA rather than 0.7%, and "will return to 0.7% when the fiscal situation allows".
- On interpreters, the new Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy is "expected to be launched following changes to the immigration legislation in April 2021"; third-country relocations are "expected" not to be possible, with discretion applied "on a case-by-case basis".