Memorandum submitted by CARE International
THE LAST
WAR NEVER
ENDED
1. CARE International is one of the few
agencies operating in government-controlled areas of southern
and central Iraq. Our programme revolves around the rehabilitation
of water treatment plants, schools and hospitals. As such we are
in a position to see the precarious condition of most of the country's
infrastructure, destroyed in 1991 and operating under the constraints
of sanctions since then.
2. We are also in a position to see the
conditions in which people live. We come across siblings who cannot
go to school together because they only have one pair of shoes
between them, meeting at the school gates half way through the
day to change over. We come across the teacher whose salary is
barely enough to keep his family as well as make the payments
on the second-hand pair of trousers that he is still paying for
by instalments. And we come across the girl who no longer goes
to school because she has no clothes respectable enough for her
to be seen in public.
3. These anecdotes illustrate that there
is already a humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Twelve years of sanctions
have brought a once educated, prosperous and healthy population
to the brink of destitution. This is a country where people were
used to modern standards of living and continue to have modern
aspirations despite the indignities to which they have been reduced.
Education is free, yet one third of children no longer attend
school because their parents cannot afford the ancillary costs,
such as a pair of shoes. Iraq sits on the world's largest oil
reserves yet most people have electricity only six hours a day.
The cruel reversal of fortunes of the Iraqi people has led to
a humanitarian crisis for which the western world has its share
of responsibility.
4. Today, 60-70% of people in southern and
central Iraq depend on government food rations, supplied under
the Oil-for-Food programme, and some 40% have no other source
of food. The rations, distributed monthly, last maybe 25 days,
requiring families that can afford to do so to resort to the market
place. This is a market where a bus fare is the equivalent of
a day's wages, a book costs a month's earnings, and house would
take 100 years to pay for. It is no wonder that people have literally
eaten into their assets—homes, jewellery, furniture, wardrobes—and
have nothing left to fall back on.
5. We may think the last war ended in 1991,
but ordinary people in Iraq are still fighting destitution every
day.
IF AND
WHEN THERE
IS ANOTHER
WAR
6. Despite our firm conviction that war
is not inevitable, and our strenuous advocacy for a diplomatic
solution, we reluctantly accept that a war is very likely to take
place. We do not condone this war, and neither do we wish to give
the impression that we are somehow complicit in the preparations
for it. However we have a responsibility to the population we
have been serving all these years. We have therefore been engaged
in low profile preparedness planning for some months.
7. In the event of a war, there are two
principal threats to the distribution of food rations. The first
is logistical, arising from the physical disruption of food import
and distribution infrastructure, as well as the closure of the
local stores that are the end point in the supply chain. The second
is administrative; if the Government of Iraq is overthrown or
rendered otherwise ineffective, there will be no legal body to
administer the proceeds of the Oil-for-Food transactions, and
this will disrupt the existing food pipeline.
8. While the government has taken the precaution
of doubling the food ration to two months' nominal supply, these
are dry goods which will be difficult to prepare when supplies
of bottled gas and kerosene run out. The UN estimates that as
a result of a war some three million people will be in need of
therapeutic feeding, two million of whom will be children.
9. Iraq's water infrastructure depends on
electricity, and most urban Iraqis get their water from a tap,
not a well. Electricity and fuel installations are prime military
targets. With no electricity, water pumping and treatment stations
will cease to operate once their back-up generators have run out
of fuel. Populations in both urban and rural areas will have to
resort to hand-dug wells or open water courses, which will increasingly
become contaminated by untreated sewage.
10. CARE in Iraq has pre-positioned portable
water tanks, known as water bladders, along with emergency supplies
of fuel, to be able to maintain a minimal water supply in selected
areas in the immediate aftermath of an attack. This can provide
up to half a million litres of water a day, which is a minuscule
response in relation to the likely scale of need. Even with the
level of water consumption of, say, a poor urban slum in southern
Africa, CARE can serve at most 25,000 people. Based on UN estimates,
2.5 million people will need water.
11. Children, already debilitated by malnutrition,
will be especially susceptible to diseases of poor sanitation
such as cholera and dysentery. Approximately 23% of under-fives
are chronically malnourished, and the average Iraqi child already
suffers 14 bouts of diarrhoea a year. Hospitals and clinics, functioning
precariously after years of sanctions, will be overwhelmed under
the combined effect of a shortage of water, no electricity and
a growing volume of patients.
12. In addition, the UN estimates that direct
civilian casualties of the war will be up to 500,000 people, of
which between 10% and 50% will be deaths.
HUMANITARIAN PREPAREDNESS
13. There is a wide range of possible scenarios
based on the intensity and duration of the combat as military
strategies unfold. These affect the type and scale of the ensuing
humanitarian emergency, both in Iraq and the possible knock-on
effects throughout the region. This makes it difficult for a single
agency such as CARE to prepare for all eventualities.
14. Some agencies are predicting and preparing
for massive flows of refugees and internally displaced people,
variously estimated at between 500,000 and two million people.
CARE has chosen to concentrate its planning around relief for
a population trapped in situ. It is our assessment that,
because of a shortage of fuel and the existing levels of poverty,
most people in the south and centre of the country will stay where
they are. This includes the staff of CARE, who are all Iraqi.
15. CARE International is not well prepared
to deal with even this limited scenario. It is very difficult
to scale up disaster preparedness within Iraq without sending
out the message that the war is a foregone conclusion. Throughout
this period of rising international tension we have continued
to undertake our long-term rehabilitation of infrastructure within
Iraq—ironically, funded by some of the same governments
(through DFID and ECHO) who may soon support the destruction of
those facilities. Meanwhile, we have increased staffing in our
office in Amman to allow us to gear up to a full emergency response
if required.
16. Another major constraint to the level
of preparedness possible has been resources. CARE will not accept
funds for emergency preparedness from the governments of either
the UK or the US, as we consider this as adding legitimacy to
their preparations for war, and contributing to its inevitability.
Our other resources are already stretched dealing with emergencies
in Southern Africa and the Horn, as well as the ongoing situation
in Afghanistan.
17. We are alarmed at recent reports that
the UN is unprepared for the humanitarian consequences of a war
which they will be expected to endorse. The UN system reports
that it is severely under-resourced (current funds of US$ 15 million
being described as "peanuts" in a recent press interview).
We have seen no information made available about how the warring
nations will honour their obligations to the civilian population
under international humanitarian law.
18. The situation in Iraq is unique from
a humanitarian standpoint because of the very real possibility
of the use of non-conventional weapons (nuclear, biological and
chemical) in the theatre of war. Most analysts seem to agree that
Iraq has not developed full nuclear capability, though the technology
for "dirty bombs" is not sophisticated. Some reports
have speculated that the US might use tactical nuclear weapons
against certain Iraqi installations. There are fears that an Iraqi
regime with nothing to lose may resort to chemical or biological
weapons. Even if the warring parties exercise restraint, there
is the ever-present possibility of an accidental release of toxic
or radioactive materials.
19. This will create a new breed of civilian
casualty, in the short and long term, as well as new levels of
risk to humanitarian workers. The aid community is simply not
equipped to deal with this, either in terms of hardware (clothing,
equipment, drugs) or software (training, insurance, systems).
We have yet to come to terms with the consequences of working
with people affected by depleted uranium shells, widely used in
the last Gulf War and in Kosovo. There is a very real danger that
we will fail in our responsibilities to the victims of these weapons,
or commit grave errors in our ignorance and inexperience, or both.
20. Access by humanitarian agencies to the
people most affected by military action must be maintained during
and after the war. In providing emergency assistance to vulnerable
people, CARE International is concerned about infringements on
the impartiality of our humanitarian operations due to military
control. It is crucial that under any circumstances where military
action occurs, there is a clear demarcation between civilian and
military roles.
21. If circumstances do not allow humanitarian
agencies access to vulnerable populations during or immediately
after the war, international humanitarian law requires the warring
parties to attend to the needs of civilians. Governments have
been all but silent about the need for this preparedness, and
have somehow assumed that the humanitarian agencies will do the
job for them.
AFTER THE
DUST SETTLES
22. The prospect of an invasion of Iraq
has posed CARE International, along with the rest of the humanitarian
community, some difficult moral dilemmas. There are those in our
agencies who do not see a great difference, on the scale of moral
rectitude, between the military annexation of a country, accompanied
by the plundering of its mineral wealth to pay for that occupation,
and the rule of a despotic dictator. We have a deep unease at
playing any part in a war being waged by our governments on the
most fragile of pretexts. But we are also driven by our solidarity
with the people of Iraq, whom we have sought to serve under the
oppression of the current regime, and by whom we will continue
to stand.
23. While we have reluctantly accepted that
a war in Iraq is now likely, CARE International has established
principles for our engagement in the ensuing humanitarian operation.
These echo the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence,
and define the "humanitarian space" in which we are
prepared to act, namely:
— unimpeded access to vulnerable and
affected populations, regardless of affiliation;
— ability to conduct independent assessment
of humanitarian need;
— freedom from direction or interference
by political or military objectives;
— dissociation from military command
structures; and
— safety and security of staff.
CONCLUSION
24. CARE International urges the British
Government to pull back from the brink of war and pursue all peaceful
means to achieve its political aims. The humanitarian consequences
of a war will be to exacerbate the plight of an already impoverished
people, and will have knock-on effects of unpredictable but surely
massive proportions.
25. In the event of a war we urge the British
Government to do all in its power to maximise the humanitarian
space available for relief agencies to operate. There must be
a clear separation of civilian and military roles. It is of paramount
importance that the control of relief and rehabilitation efforts
be in civilian hands, with a strong coordinating role by the UN.
This needs to be effectively resourced, and independent of the
political and military designs of any nation.
CARE International
February 2003
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