(Ottawa) Major humanitarian groups are urging the Trudeau government to ease restrictions on working with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Posted at 6:25 a.m.
The Canadian Red Cross, Oxfam Canada and Amnesty International are among 18 groups that argue Ottawa has lagged behind its peers in finding loopholes for humanitarian aid while isolating the Taliban regime.
They argue that Canadian sanctions are blocking their response to a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
An estimated 23 million people are facing food shortages in the country, which is beset by droughts, a breakdown in health services and a plummeting economy.
Aid groups say anti-terrorism rules in the Criminal Code prevent Canadian groups from getting their supplies out of warehouses and into the hands of people in need.
In June, a special House of Commons committee formed to study the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan said Ottawa must change those rules.
This committee noted that the United States, Australia, Britain and the European Union had all found ways to get aid into the country.
The Liberals have not given an official response to the report, leading aid groups to decry what they call a “disheartening lack of urgency.”