PESHAWAR: Insecurity making Afghan relief work difficult
By Intikhab Amir
PESHAWAR, Dec 14: International aid agencies and relief organziations of Afghan origin are finding it difficult to implement assistance projects inside Afghanistan despite the fact that the Northern Alliance and its like-minded groups have established their hold on almost the whole war-ravaged country in the wake of Taliban collapse.
In interviews, Peshawar-based representatives and relief workers of several international aid agencies revealed that humanitarian assistance projects were the worst hit in almost every province of Afghanistan.
Non-governmental organizations, being run and headed by Afghans, are no exception as they also are facing difficulties in rehabilitating internally displaced Afghans and reconstructing the war-torn Afghanistan.
“ We are hopeful that the situation would improve, enabling us to start relief work, but right now, the country is in the grip of uncertainty and chaos”, said Musa, a representative of Afghan Mobile Reconstruction Association(AMRAN), an NGO, headed and run by Afghans.
AMRAN, the representative said, had to abandon its activity vis-a-vis preparing a project to assist internally-displaced families in Paktia province after the donor agency - UNHCR - stopped it in view of increasing insecurity in Afghanistan.
Similarly, the World Food Programme wanted to involve Syed Jamal-ud-Din Afghani Welfare Organization ( SJAWO) in the distribution of food items among the destitute inside Afghanistan.
However, this move, too, could not take off as the world body had to drop the idea due to insecurity and chaos following the Taliban’s fall, said Shah Alam Khan, the Peshawar-based education officer at SJAWO.
He said the SJAWO’s offices at Jalalabad and Kabul were still functioning.
The worst hit, under the prevalent situation, are the relief agencies run or headed by Arabs.
In a recent incident, an Arab-American, Dr Khalid, was arrested by security guards when he entered Afghanistan as the Taliban were on the run in the eastern zone of the country after having abandoned Kabul and northern parts of the Afghanistan.
“ He had gone there to visit his NGO’s health centre in Jalalabad when he was captured by the new administration,” said Mr Khan.
On his entry into Pakistan, after being released by Afghans at Jalalabad, he was arrested by Pakistan guards who intercepted him on the presumption that he might be having links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network,Khan said
Later, Dr Khalid was released following US authorities’ intervention and left for the United States.
“ No body is feeling secure inside Afghanistan especially the NGOs workers and among them too the Arabs who are, apparently, suspected the most,” said a UNHCR officer.
