Afghan Aidworkers More Vulnerable After UN Attack

by Una M. · 2009-11-13 08:19:00 UTC
Topics:

The 28 Oct. attack on a Kabul guesthouse that left five United Nations election workers dead had its perpetrators' intended effect. Reeling from the tragedy, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has temporarily relocated 200 of its international staff outside the country, and 400 to more secure locations in-country. With many NGOs also considering additional security measures, expats aren't the only ones concerned about the future, and Afghan aidworkers have even more to worry about.

“Scaling down the UN’s presence is very worrying for all Afghans and in particular NGOs, because they will become softer targets for the armed opposition,” Khial Shah, head of the Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan told IRIN, the UN's humanitarian news service.

Without the privilege of being able to leave Afghanistan on the next flight out, Afghan aidworkers live with more risks and fewer guarantees than their foreign colleagues.  Eighteen Afghan aidworkers have been killed so far this year, and many more have been harassed, threatened and injured.

Afghans working for international NGOs worry about what will happen if their employers decide to pull out of Afghanistan, as several international NGOs did in recent years following deadly attacks on expat staff. Working for an NGO can offer Afghan aidworkers some minimal protection, but when NGOs leave areas of the country where insurgent groups are active, their local employees face intimidation and suspicion. "Afghan aidworkers are wrongly labelled as spies and collaborators of foreign forces,” said Shah.

Some within and close to the Afghan government aren't worried about UNAMA reducing its presence, even permanently. "We don't need the UN agencies, the UN agencies are a burden," Ashraf Ghani, a former minister of finance and presidential candidate, told the Christian Science Monitor. Afghan president Hamid Karzai was even more dismissive. When asked during a PBS interview on Monday what effect the UN staff relocation would have, Karzai said, "No impact. No impact. They may or may not return. Afghanistan won't notice it."

Afghan aidworkers beg to differ. Abdul Sataar Siddique, a program director for an Afghan relief coordination NGO told IRIN, “We do our work in close partnership with UN agencies and if they reduce their staff numbers it will adversely impact our projects and activities.”

Other Afghans see the UN staff relocation scheme as an ominous sign that worse times lie ahead. "Whenever a UN unit is active in one part of Afghanistan, people in that place are thinking there is peace. If they pull out, for sure the people are thinking negatively," M. Qasim Ahmadzai, a Ministry of Economy official said. "So far, no NGOs have decided yet to leave, but they may."

[Photos: Fardin Waezi (UNAMA)]

Una M.
PREVIOUS STORY:
What is Checkpoint Etiquette?
NEXT STORY:
A letter from Bettina Siegel, "Pink Slime" petition creator

COMMENTS (3)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.