Help from soldiers boosts risk to civilian aid workers

By David Cronin

Date: 20/01/05

The growing military involvement in providing food and medicines to victims of conflict can have "negative consequences" for the security of civilian aid workers, the European Commission's Humanitarian Office says.

In an analysis of the risks faced by aid workers, ECHO notes that the provision of humanitarian assistance by soldiers in Afghanistan is "seen by some to be a significant contributing factor to increased insecurity" for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the country. It also cites complaints that the US army's repair of schools and clinics along Somalia's border with Kenya has undermined the credibility of NGOs with Somali warlords.

These "now see humanitarian organisations as part of a continuum of cultural, religious and military fronts on which the 'global war on terror' - which is understood by these warlords to be a war on Muslims - is being fought", ECHO added.

But the report acknowledges that peacekeepers can play an important role in protecting civilians and that, on occasions, charities have pressed for military intervention to boost their access to those in need. Oxfam has sought such intervention in Zaire (now Congo) in the past, while Care asked for military assistance in Somalia during the 1990s.

An ECHO source explained that the office's then director Costanza Adinolfi decided that a review of the security issues facing humanitarian workers should be carried out following the 2003 bombing of the UN's Baghdad headquarters. But the source said that there should not be an 'Iraqisation' of the debate and humanitarian workers in other countries have not faced the same threats as those who have been attacked in Iraq.

Afghanistan is the country where most deaths occurred among aid workers in 1997-2003. Nineteen lost their lives in the central Asian state in that period, while 17 died in Angola, 14 in Sudan and 13 in Somalia.

The report recognises that violence against aid personnel is a "real possibility in many parts of the world". This was highlighted in October 2003, when Taliban leader Mullah Omar accused Western charities of being the "worst enemies of Islam".

Stating that training of aid workers in security matters is often poor and that many lack adequate insurance cover, ECHO recommends that charities develop security procedures and that staff have the awareness and skills to pay greater attention to security.

Katrin Schick from the Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergency, an umbrella group for relief charities, said that the humanitarian efforts should be kept separate from aid workers in order to guard their impartiality. But she admitted there are a number of conflicts - including in Chechnya and northern Uganda - where it was deemed necessary for aid workers to have military escorts.

In such circumstances, it should be the charities that request the escort, Schick said. She criticised the Indonesian government for insisting that military personnel accompany aid workers striving to reach those hit by the tsunami in the war-torn province of Aceh. "This could complicate access to people in need," she added.

In its Report on Security of Humanitarian Personnel, an analysis of the risks faced by aid workers, the European Commission's Humanitarian Office, ECHO, noted that the growing military involvement in providing food and medicines to victims of conflict could have 'negative consequences' for the security of civilian aid workers.

ECHO: ECHO Security Review: Report on Security of Humanitarian Personnel http://ec.europa.eu/comm/echo/pdf_files/security/echo_security_report_en.pdf

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