Memorandum submitted by CARE International
UK
SUMMARY
CARE International believes that the international
community must take all necessary steps to ensure that:
1. Large-scale deliveries of food and
other vital aid are expanded now, because winter is coming ;
2. The humanitarian effort in Afghanistan
is placed firmly under civilian leadership; and
3. There is longer-term commitment to
building a peace and supporting reconstruction and development
in Afghanistan.
I. INTRODUCTION
The humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan was
already upon us before 11 September, away from the media spotlight
and the global political agenda. The people of Afghanistan are
suffering from the aftermath of more than 20 years of conflict
and three years of severe drought, and now face heightened risk
and fear as winter approaches and military action intensifies.
CARE International along with other agencies
has been calling attention to the plight of millions of Afghans
facing starvation for many months. Even before the events of recent
weeks, the humanitarian community faced tremendous challenges
to respond to this need, in terms of
— capacity to deliver aid on such a
scale in a country with poor infrastructure;
— restrictions on access to the most
vulnerable people and areas by the Taliban;
— reluctance of the media and donor
governments to be seen as supporting the Taliban.
The conflict has intensified all the above constraints,
and added new ones. If the international community had taken action
on the humanitarian crisis earlier, the dilemmas facing it now
would be less acute.
We cannot re-write history, but that is no reason
to compound the difficulties we have created for ourselves. It
is not too late to do something to reduce the suffering.
CARE urges all parties to accord highest priority
to the provision of humanitarian assistance to the millions of
innocent Afghan civilians caught up in the crisis. In the window
of opportunity available before the full onset of winter, priority
must be given to humanitarian rather than military purposes.
II. CURRENT SITUATION
Some 7.5 million Afghans are estimated by the
United Nations to be at risk. They need food and other basic assistance
in order to make it through Afghanistan's harsh winter, which
normally sets in by mid-November. Humanitarian organisations know
that, in order to meet that need, they need to move some 50,000
MT of food per month into Afghanistan. Currently, the UN
and NGOs are only moving a fraction of that amount across Afghanistan's
borders to those in need.
The United Nations and NGOs have sufficient
food in the pipeline in neighbouring countries to meet Afghanistan's
needs. They cannot deliver it into Afghanistan in sufficient quantities
because of the poor security conditions prevailing in much of
the country. Humanitarian organisations routinely work in places
that might be considered unsafe, but moving large quantities of
food into Afghanistan means contracting private truck drivers
who will not necessarily accept the same level of risk. There
are limits to the level of insecurity to which we will expose
our staff, partners and service providers
III. PRECONDITIONS
FOR A
PRINCIPLED HUMANITARIAN
RESPONSE
It is clearly preferable, and for obvious reasons,
to provide support to needy people in situ than to relocate
them to camps inside or outside the country. For this to happen,
humanitarian space must be created inside Afghanistan. This entails:
1. Humanitarian agencies having access to
vulnerable communities
There have been a number of incidents against
NGOs both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The operations of aid agencies
in Taliban-controlled areas are being greatly impeded by local
authorities. Aid workers have been harassed, and in some cases,
attacked. A CARE pickup truck was taken by the Taliban in Kabul,
with the driver beaten and tossed into a ditch. Some agencies
have had their offices and warehouses attacked or seized. Aid
agencies have been severely restricted from using communications
equipment, cutting them off from their offices within Afghanistan
and neighboring countries, hindering operations and undermining
staff security. Recently, authorities have also attempted to impose
large taxes on deliveries of aid into the country.
While these are generally isolated incidents,
they add up to a stance of non-cooperation and obstruction of
international relief efforts. The Taliban must be pressed into
removing restrictions on the operations of humanitarian organisations
and allow them to do their work freely in the best interest of
the Afghan people.
Humanitarian organizations, including NGOs and
the UN, must be afforded safe and secure access to all affected
civilian populations, both inside Afghanistan and in neighbouring
countries. If conditions do not permit normal humanitarian operations
to reach large numbers of those affected, extraordinary measures
(airlifts and humanitarian corridors, etc.) should be considered
on a temporary basis.
2. Cessation of internal hostilities
Afghanistan has been in a state of almost perpetual
civil war for twenty years. This conflict currently pits the Taliban,
controlling most of the country, against the United Front/Northern
Alliance. The temporary and uneasy stalemate of recent months
has been broken by the renewed flow of arms, equipment and moral
support from outside. With the expectation that the winner will
take all, the civil war is set to intensify. In such circumstances,
humanitarian aid becomes a weapon, and aid agencies targets.
This is not a war between two organized disciplined
armies. It is not realistic to expect a formal negotiated ceasefire
to be completely effective. Nevertheless, international pressure
can be applied to achieve at least a declared undertaking by all
sides to allow humanitarian activities to take place.
Much could be achieved if the international
community simply refrained from actively waging war or encouraging
others to do so on its behalf. Creating a humanitarian window
in the warfare can also provide an opportunity to work actively
towards a political solution to Afghanistan's civil war.
3. Halting air strikes
Air strikes increase the risks that private
transporters and aid agencies face in trying to move large quantities
of food into the country. Among the targets already hit have been
ones in the vicinity of major population concentrations in Kabul,
Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sherif, and Herat. When people flee,
humanitarian action becomes more problematic. Even when only strategic
locations are targeted, there is always a certain probability
of damaging infrastructure which would be needed for effective
humanitarian intervention.
And, as anyone who has been in one will testify,
air strikes terrify ordinary people.
4. Integrity of Humanitarian Action
Aid delivery decisions should be rooted in the
humanitarian imperative and should not be used to further any
partisan political or military agenda. Every effort should be
made to reach those in greatest need in, and/or from, both Taliban
and opposition-controlled areas.
To this end he humanitarian effort should be
under civilian leadership, and any interaction by humanitarian
organizations with military forces should be limited to the provision
of assistance to needy civilian populations, and should always
serve to promote human rights.
IV. OBLIGATIONS
OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Notwithstanding the above, it is unlikely at
this late stage that international political opinion will swing
behind a call for a "humanitarian pause". The military
option has been set rolling and it is likely to be allowed to
run its course. Whatever our disagreement and frustration with
current approaches, the humanitarian imperative is paramount.
If we cannot achieve the best possible outcome we should at least
seek to minimize the consequences of the worst.
The international community, and specifically
the British Government, must recognise the following obligations
:
1. Right to Humanitarian Assistance
There is a need for urgent, massive relief assistance
prior to the onset of winter. Harsh winter conditions in Afghanistan
render roads to remote parts of the country impassable from mid-November
until March, making it difficult for large numbers of Afghans
to reach aid or for aid to reach them. Considerable uncertainty
remains regarding the magnitude and direction of population movements,
and donors and humanitarian agencies should be flexible regarding
the locations where food and other relief supplies are ultimately
directed. What is clear is that not enough food is currently getting
in to Afghanistan.
2. Protection of Civilians in Conflict Areas
The international community must be prepared
to ensure the protection of civilians, particularly internally
displaced and refugee populations, and safeguard against their
infiltration by military forces.
3. Treatment of refugees
Neighbouring states should open their borders
to refugees needing to flee the crisis in Afghanistan, subject
to the security screening needed to separate combatants from genuine
refugees and avoid further destabilization of border areas.
All refugees have a right to be provided an
adequate standard of protection, food, water, shelter, and other
basic needs. All refugee camps should be established and managed
in accordance with international conventions and humanitarian
(e.g. SPHERE) standards.
Some of the planning to date for refugee camps
in Pakistan raises serious concerns in the humanitarian NGO community,
including camps being sited too close to the Afghan border and
in inhospitable locations, possible restrictions by local military
and civilian authorities on access of international humanitarian
workers to refugee camps, and the potential militarization of
camps.
4. Reconstruction and Development
While the international community must focus
at present on the need for immediate, massive humanitarian assistance,
our efforts should be informed by a desire to help the Afghan
people break the cycle of conflict, extreme poverty and despair.
We must seek to support and encourage those working for peace
and avoid actions that propel Afghanistan down the path of intensified
civil war and the complete breakdown of security. The only stable,
long-term solutions to the current crisis are ones rooted in the
right of the Afghan people to determine their own destiny.
Essential to creating a climate of hope for
the future among the Afghan people is an international commitment
to aid in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. Such
a commitment could provide an important incentive for a broad
range of parties in Afghanistan to intensify efforts to address
the country's fundamental problems. Among the minimum conditions
for a major program of long-term assistance to Afghanistan should
be respect for the rights of all of its own citizens, including
women, minorities, and other vulnerable groups, as well as adherence
to important legal and diplomatic norms in the country's dealings
with the rest of the international community.
KEY CONCLUSIONS
1. Large-scale deliveries of food and other
vital aid must be expanded now
The international community must plan more actively
for large movements of people within or out of Afghanistan. It
is much more likely to be a question of "when" this
is going to happen rather than "if". The secrecy surrounding
the tactics behind the military intervention has lulled the international
community into a false sense of uncertainty as to the likely humanitarian
outcome.
We should not be deceived by the relatively
low volume of movement to date. Already the stream of people crossing
the borders with Pakistan, still officially closed, is increasing
sharply. Recently, 8,000 people came across in one day. At this
eleventh hour, it is clear we have done too little too late to
avert a crisis of massive proportions. All available routes and
means of getting aid into and around Afghanistan should be employed.
During the next month, it is particularly important to get supplies
in place in areas that will be made inaccessible with the onset
of winter.
2. The humanitarian effort must remain firmly
under civilian leadership
The distinction between the humanitarian response
to the Afghan famine and the military response to the September
11 attacks in the United States has been blurred. Political leaders
should publicly reassert that important distinction between the
political and humanitarian spheres of action. The UN should manage
all humanitarian operations, including the refugee camps, and
resist pressures to allow the military to do so.
Military forces can provide security and possible
logistical support in certain areas of the country, but the failure
to make a clear distinction in functions may put the lives of
humanitarian workers at immediate risk, as well as compromise
the integrity of the UN agencies and NGOs in future.
3. The international community must make a
commitment to seeking peace in Afghanistan soon
The conflict in Afghanistan has a history of
constantly changing rivalries and alliances, and none of the parties
involved has a greater claim than others on integrity, humanity
or principle. Replacing the Taliban by a different faction will
not end the war. It will mean nothing for millions of ordinary
Afghans unless there is a political process that ensures plurality,
safeguards the vulnerable from persecution, and establishes the
foundations for prosperity. To help achieve this, the international
community must guarantee to back a longer-term programme of rehabilitation
and development
CARE International UK
19 October 2001
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