Two containers of food bound for Afghanistan were canceled by a Canadian aid agency because of a law prohibiting any dealings with the Taliban.
World Vision says it has been forced to cancel a large shipment of “therapeutic food” that it says could have fed about 1,800 children.
Assunta Charles, World Vision’s country director in Afghanistan, said the country was facing a severe humanitarian crisis and food deliveries should be canceled due to “unnecessary restrictions”.
Canada passed a law in 2013 that lists the Taliban as a terrorist organization and carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison if Canadians directly or indirectly provide them with property or finances.
Aid agencies working in Afghanistan have complained that the law in its current form hampers their work because they cannot help anyone who may have a formal relationship with what is now the Afghan government, including those who pay rent or taxes.
Charles said it was “time for Canada to act by decriminalizing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to save lives before it’s too late.”
Canada is “out of step,” the UN said
Amy Avis, a lawyer for the Canadian Red Cross, said Canada must find a way to allow aid to reach people in Afghanistan.
Ten humanitarian organizations submitted a motion to a special parliamentary committee on Afghanistan earlier this year, calling on ministers to relax laws so they can work on the ground in Afghanistan without fear of running afoul of Canada’s anti-terrorism laws.
They criticized Canada for not adjusting its provisions following a December 2021 UN Security Council resolution that said “humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan” would not violate the sanctions regime of the Council.
Michael Messinger, president of World Vision Canada, told the commission that Canada is “out of step” with other countries, including the United States, that have made changes to facilitate humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
In its official report, the parliamentary committee recommended that the government “ensure that registered Canadian organizations have the necessary clarity and safeguards – such as carve-outs or exemptions – to provide humanitarian assistance and meet basic needs in Afghanistan, without fear of prosecution for breaching Canada Anti-Terrorism Laws’.
Canada seeks ‘necessary changes’
Hayley Hodgson, a spokeswoman for International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, said he was working with the public safety and justice departments to consider “necessary changes” to the law.
“We continue to support the immediate needs of the Afghan people,” she said. “In 2022, Canada has committed $143 million to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan and neighboring countries.”
Sajjan has previously stressed that the government has no plans to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.
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