Humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan | Canada blocks aid for Afghans

The Canadian government cut off funding to two NGOs working in Afghanistan because they were unable to ensure that the Taliban would not take advantage of it. They bear the brunt of a legislative framework that must be modified, insist various stakeholders.

“It is recommended that you approve the termination of the agreement with two NGOs that are unable to implement sufficient mitigation measures,” reads a memo intended for the Minister of International Development, Harjit Sajjan.

Unlike partners affiliated with the United Nations or the International Committee of the Red Cross, CARE and International Medical Corps (IMC) organizations have failed to do so, the memo says, which appears to date back to December 2021.

The Canadian funds could be used “for activities subject to taxation or otherwise provide a benefit for the Taliban”, adds the document obtained by The Press under the Access to Information Act.

To avoid lawsuits, CARE put a stop to a project of “gender equality interventions in remote rural communities in eastern Afghanistan”, while IMC gave up on “care of traumatology” in the same region.

The amount allocated for each project was 1.5 million and 1.6 million respectively in 2021. That year, Ottawa allocated 133.3 million in aid to Afghanistan and neighbors (the first tranche, before the return of the Taliban, was 27.3 million).

Marginal, these gels? Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe refutes this argument: “The data we don’t have is how many did not apply for funding knowing that the Criminal Code would prevent them from doing the job. . »

A binding legislative framework

Like his colleagues in Ottawa who have been sounding the alarm for months, the elected official does not want the Taliban regime to be removed from the list of terrorist entities, a status which makes any direct or indirectly from the group.

On the other hand, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe urges the Liberals to amend the Criminal Code in order to facilitate the task of non-governmental organizations. Because that’s where the shoe pinches.

Global Affairs Canada agrees that the terrorism-related provisions present “serious constraints on the humanitarian and development activities that the government is able to support in Afghanistan.”

A bill aimed at correcting the situation is in preparation, according to what was said in an interview with the Globe and Mail Minister Sajjan. “I am hopeful that the process could be completed by next spring,” he told the daily last December.

The government has been dragging its feet for months, conservative Pierre Paul-Hus denounces, noting that the United Nations and allied countries have taken measures to ensure that humanitarian aid to Afghanistan does not violate sanctions regimes .

“The entire Afghan file is problematic,” he drops. Once again, the Liberal government cannot change course. We continue to ask him to find a solution. »

” Nothing has changed ”

The Canadian Red Cross also has its hands tied, laments Sophie Rondeau, director and legal adviser of the organization. “Our operations are still suspended,” she explains.

“We still cannot do our job because of these legislative and regulatory restrictions,” she continues. ‘Nothing has changed’ since advocacy by NGOs last August as aid containers were blocked by Ottawa^⁠1.

If it is “well documented” that humanitarian aid “can perpetuate conflicts, that should not be our concern”, argues François Audet, director of the Canadian Observatory on crises and humanitarian action. from UQAM.

And according to the specialist, it will be necessary to get used to the idea that the Taliban are not passing through.

“That we deal with. They are the ones there. If we keep this rupture, what does that mean, that we will never again collaborate with Afghanistan in one way or another? We can’t do that after everything we’ve done,” exclaims Mr. Audet.

The two NGOs whose funding has been suspended declined to comment, for operational and security reasons.

With the collaboration of William Leclerc, The Press