Crisis in Afghanistan: Letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair from the Directors of Christian Aid and Islamic Relief

November 2, 2001

Christian Aid & Islamic Relief

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you with a last-minute plea for thousands of innocent Afghans caught up in a desperate situation. We also remember the lives brutally cut short by the attack of 11 September. But we must also, as a moral nation, remember those who face cold, starvation and disease far from the spotlight of Western television cameras.

More than five million Afghans depend for survival on food aid. Many live in remote mountain areas, which this month are cut off by winter snows. The first snows are already falling. In days the situation for some communities will be literally hopeless, because the opportunity to transport large quantities of aid will have been lost. They need our help now, not in the future.

According to figures from the World Food Programme, in addition to the monthly requirement of 53,000 tonnes of food, more than 60,000 tonnes must be stockpiled to see the people of the west and central highlands of Afghanistan through the winter. Less than a quarter of what is needed is currently getting through each day, and barely one fifth of what is required is being distributed.

As professionals with years of experience of working in Afghanistan, we know that road convoys are essential to transport these quantities of food. There is no practical alternative: extensive US airdrops have so far provided less than half of one per cent of what is needed. But while the bombing continues, the chances of persuading drivers to enter war zones in heavy trucks are minimal.

In order to effectively deliver and distribute supplies in Afghanistan we need to be able to operate without hindrance from any of the warring sides. For this to happen we need a pause in the bombing, and we need all parties to respect humanitarian law.

We urge you as the leader of a moral nation to take this last opportunity to protect the lives of people who had no hand in the events of 11 September.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Hany El-Banna, Director, Islamic Relief

Dr Daleep Mukarji, Director, Christian Aid