Pat McFadden: 'Appalling humanitarian catastrophe' if Afghanistan starvation crisis worsens

Labour front-bencher Pat McFadden said there were millions currently on the edge of starvation and countries who could provide help needed to.

It is estimated around five million children and four million adults are now suffering from the acute effects of malnutrition in the Taliban-run country.

A further 23 million, half of the Afghan population, are said to be facing famine in the coming months, which has prompted calls for action to be taken.

And the crisis has even prompted the intervention of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who called on the UK to convene an emergency aid conference.

The Wolverhampton South East MP, speaking to Sky News, said: "There are millions of people on the edge of starvation. There are parents having to sell their children in order to try to buy food for a few hundred dollars.

"The world must sit up, it must do more and just because the Taliban are running this country, we can't let the people there starve. So countries that have the means to help and we're in a position where we do have some means to help, together with other similar countries.

"We've got to make sure that aid gets to the people there whoever is running the country."

Mr McFadden, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, added: "It would be the most appalling humanitarian catastrophe to let this get any worse.

"It's not the fault of people in Afghanistan who are starving and that's why us, the United States, France, Germany, and other countries who have means have got to do more to get help to people there."

Politicians, celebrities and trade union leaders are among thousands of people to back an appeal launched by former prime minister Gordon Brown and Save The Children to raise money to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown believes the government should convene an emergency aid conference of the 40 nations in the US-led coalition whose departure, on top of harvest failure and Covid, has left Afghanistan facing catastrophe.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of people have signed a petition or responded on social media to the appeal aimed at helping the United Nations raise billions of pounds to prevent national starvation in Afghanistan.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said after the launch of the fundraiser: "The British people have shown incredible generosity and the UK is determined to do all we can for the people of Afghanistan.

"We have doubled our aid this year to save lives, protect women and girls and support stability in the region."

It comes after the United States' Armed Forces withdrew from the country in August last year. President Joe Biden said he stands "squarely behind" his decision but said the Government's collapse – leading to the Taliban taking over – was quicker than anticipated.

Mr Biden said he was faced with a choice between sticking to a previously negotiated agreement to withdraw US troops this year or sending thousands more service members back into Afghanistan for a "third decade" of war.