Aid Agencies
Desert Afghanistan
By Nick Meo
29 July 2004
The Independent
Aid
workers who remained in Afghanistan throughout the years of Soviet occupation,
tribal anarchy and Taliban rule are preparing to flee the country because
US military tactics have made it too dangerous to operate there.
A grim shadow was
cast over the future of all aid missions to Afghanistan when the French
organisation Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said independent
humanitarian work could no longer be carried out safely. MSF claimed
the American military had endangered the lives of humanitarian volunteers
by blurring the distinction between soldiers and aid workers. Five MSF
workers were killed last month.
The announcement
came as the Foreign Affairs Select Committee was preparing to put on
record its fears about a rise in heroin production since the fall of
the Taliban as part of a report to be published today into the war on
terrorism. The Foreign Office has admitted that the opium harvest this
year will be one of the biggest on record.
The organisation's
decision to leave Afghanistan two months before the presidential election
left Kabul's foreign aid community in shock.MSF won the Nobel peace
prize in 1999 and has worked in Afghanistan for 24 years amid horrifying
violence.
MSF has also suggested
that the Afghan government was sending out a message that it was acceptable
to murder aid workers by failing to take action against suspects in
last month's murder of MSF staff.
It expressed a "deep
feeling of sadness and anger" about its decision. Although no other
organisations have announced plans to follow MSF's lead, many are reviewing
their position in the approach to October's presidential elections.
Taliban attacks are expected.
Kenny Gluck, MSF's
operations director, denounced US military programmes in southern Afghanistan,
which have sometimes promised aid only to villages which provide intelligence
on Taliban fighters.
He said: "MSF
denounces attempts to use humanitarian aid to win hearts and minds.
That jeopardises the aid to people in need and endangers the lives of
humanitarian aid workers ... These soldiers are often out of uniform.
It's hard to know what nationality they are."
He added: "The
US-backed coalition has consistently sought to co-opt humanitarian assistance
to build support for its own military and political ambitions."
Mr Gluck said the coalition had several times apologised for activities
the agencies found threatening, such as distributing leaflets promising
aid for information, only for the same thing to happen again later.
The shooting to
death of three European and two Afghan staff members last month was
described as unprecedented in MSF's 30-year history of working in the
world's most violent conflicts. The motive has not been established,
but valuables were not taken from the victims' clearly marked car and
they were killed in an area known for opium poppy production. MSF believes
its staff were deliberately targeted.
Security experts
in Kabul believe more foreigners may be attacked. Since the start of
last year, 30 aid workers have been killed, mainly in rural provinces
where security is worst.
Yesterday, a bomb
exploded in a mosque in a south-eastern town where Afghans were registering
for the elections, killing at least two people and seriously wounding
two others, officials said. Three rockets fired into Kabul overnight
set off a secondary explosion at an arms dump and blew a hole in the
road in front of the Chinese embassy. No one was injured.
One aid worker who
has been in Kabul for three years said: "Although the economy is
doing well and Afghans are more confident, but foreigners who know the
country have never been more scared. There's a real sense of dread about
what will happen during the election campaign."
About 20,000 American
troops are in Afghanistan. A few British soldiers are stationed as peace-keepers,
some manning provincial reconstruction teams, small garrisons which
have proved controversial with aid workers, but many have welcomed the
security they have brought to cities outside the capital.
Aid groups' concerns
centre on the actions of combat troops trying to win over villagers
in areas afflicted by guerrilla warfare. Despite years of work by organisations
such as MSF in the country, many villagers now confuse aid workers and
soldiers, Mr Gluck claimed. "We have seen military people with
weapons and in white cars providing health care. How can you expect
Afghans to distinguish?"
Aid workers particularly
criticise US special forces teams who sometimes operate clinics to win
over local populations or distribute sweets and toys to village children.
The pull-out will
affect 80 foreign and 1,400 Afghan staff, most of whom will lose their
jobs. Although clinics and health programmes in some of the country's
most deprived areas would be handed over to the Afghan government, thousands
of people would lose access to health care, he said.
Phil Halton of the
independent Afghanistan NGO Security Office, which advises aid workers
on safety, said he expected other organisations to now take another
look at whether or not to stay. Two weeks ago, Goal, a small Irish group
that works with children, left Afghanistan quoting security fears.
Mr Halton said:
"It really is a watershed when MSF pulls out. They are regarded
as an outfit which is prepared to go to riskier places than anybody
else."