Aid in the firing line

Aid agencies rely on negotiation and dialogue to operate in some of the world's most hostile environments

By CNN's Joe Havely
in Hong Kong

(CNN) -- The detention of 24 aid workers by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia has again illustrated the dangers and often outright hostility to which relief organizations are exposed around the world.

From war zones to flooding disasters, the places where aid is most desperately needed are also inherently the kind of places where the danger to those working there is highest.

Natural threats such as disease and severe weather are something relief agencies have always had to contend with.

But increasingly they also have to take on the challenge posed by more man-made dangers such as kidnapping, arrest and, occasionally, murder.

Robert Yallop, head of overseas operations for CARE Australia, says his agency and others like it have noticed a significant shift in the past decade away from what was once regarded as the untouchable impartiality of aid workers.

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Ten years ago, he says, relief agencies were not considered a target -- the blue uniform of the UN, or the insignia of the Red Cross was regarded as virtually inviolate.

"That doesn't mean incidents didn't occur," Yallop says. "But when they did they were generally genuine, unfortunate mistakes."

Now though, things are changing.

QUOTE "War is becoming less and less structured and internal conflict -- civil war -- is becoming more common with more actors and more interests at stake" - Mario Musa, Red Cross Afghanistan

Aid workers are finding themselves embroiled in, and sometimes falling victim to, the political turmoil of the very countries in which they seek to deliver aid.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, CARE was itself one such organization whose employees found themselves pawns in a broader political game.

Two of its Australian employees and one Yugoslav national working for the charity were arrested, tried and convicted of spying -- charges which Yallop still vigorously rejects.

They were eventually released after massive international pressure was brought to bear on then Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

In the case of Afghanistan however the situation is very different.

Limited options

By its nature aid is often most desperately needed in the most dangerous and inaccessible areas

When aid workers run into difficulties with the Taliban authorities there is very little that their agencies or other outside actors can do in the way of exercising influence.

"Basically, when it comes to the Taliban, we're very limited in the number of levers we can pull," says a U.S. diplomat based in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Because few countries have any diplomatic relations with the Taliban, let alone provide them with any funding, the options for putting pressure on them are few.

For this reason, says the diplomat, "we have a very strong travel advisory on Afghanistan" -- pointing to the U.S. State Department's warning against U.S. citizens traveling to Afghanistan.

Even Pakistan, which does maintain relations with the authorities, is often ignored -- as was the case with Islamabad's pleas against the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas earlier this year.

Then the Taliban bit their thumb at the rest of the world -- dynamiting the statues despite international calls for them to preserve them as world-class relics.

Confidence building

Mario Musa, of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Afghan capital, Kabul, says one of the reasons aid workers, particularly in war zones, have found themselves is because of the changing nature of modern conflict.

The Chechnya conflict created massive demand for aid amid one of the world's most dangerous conflict zones

"Today there are very few strictly international conflicts," he says. "War is becoming less and less structured and internal conflict -- civil war -- is becoming more common with more actors and more interests at stake."

He says the Red Cross, which by its nature tends to operate in war zones, relies on negotiation and confidence building with all sides as the basis for ensuring the safety of its workers.

"Out main aim is to reach victims of war," says Musa. "We need to be close to them to do our work, so, whilst there is always a danger, we have to negotiate access. Without security we cannot do our job."

Musa says one of the fundamental principles of the ICRC, since its foundation, is neutrality - a feature the organization is constantly at pains to promote.

"The more we are perceived as independent and neutral, the more likely we are to be respected," he says.

For this reason Musa adds, the ICRC has a strict policy not to employ armed escorts, which carries the risk of being identified with a particular side and hence, the agency believes, increasing the risk of attack.

"Instead we work on persuasion and rely on the protection of the Red Cross emblem," he says.

Impartiality

"If you don't have a dialogue, if you don't explain why we're here, it's very difficult to do our work -- in that sense Afghanistan is not that different from anywhere else that we work. Patience, persuasion and negotiation are the tools of our trade."

Nonetheless the risks posed to aid workers around the world continue to grow - with growing incidents of cases where those seeking to bring aid and assistance have themselves been specifically targeted.

Last year UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appealed to member states to do more to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers whose safety, he said, was becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee.

His comments were prompted by the deaths of four employees of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, murdered in a raid on UN offices by pro-Indonesian militia in West Timor.

The attack brought to 19 the number of UNHCR workers killed in the line of duty since 1992.

Yallop of CARE Australia says his agency and others such as Oxfam and the ICRC have been pressing UN members to push through specific declarations, recognizing the impartiality of relief workers in the international system and humanitarian law.

"If an aggressor knows they won't get away with attacks on aid agencies and their employees -- that the international community will not stand for it -- then the chances of such attacks will be much less."

Overall though Yallop says while the need for aid is there it will remain the responsibility of those going into hostile environments to study and understand the risks and respect the local culture.

"Safety and security will always be our number one priority," he says. "We're learning everyday how to deal with the challenges and will go on learning."