Sen. Salma Ataullahjan is seen during a news conference, Thursday, July 14, 2022, in Ottawa. Ataullahjan has persuaded her colleagues on the human-rights committee to hold hearings next month on rules that bar aid groups from working in Afghanistan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA – Senators are ramping up their push to get Ottawa to explain why Canada is still barring humanitarian workers from responding to devastating crises in Afghanistan.
Conservative Sen. Salma Ataullahjan has persuaded her colleagues on the upper chamber’s human rights committee to hold hearings next month on rules that bar aid groups from working in Afghanistan.
The Taliban took over the country in 2021, and humanitarian groups say Canadian officials have told them that they can’t pay anyone in Afghanistan or buy good there, because paying taxes counts as supporting a terrorist group.
Other countries faced the same issue months ago and amended their laws to clarify that delivering aid will not lead to prosecution, while the United Nations has issued a similar rule for its staff.
A House committee called for a remedy in June but the Trudeau government still has no timeline or public plan to resolve the issue, despite having regular talks with the Taliban.
The UN says nearly 60 per cent of the Afghan population needs humanitarian aid to help with the collapse of food and health systems due to an economic crisis, natural disasters and armed conflict.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2022.
