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Charities say war has crept up to 'safer' north
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By Tom Rowley and Kunal Dutta in: The Independent, Aug 9
Kabul; Aid agencies in Afghanistan have launched urgent reviews of their security in the wake of the killings of 10 medical workers in the north of the country.
Many had until now assumed that the north of Afghanistan was a comparatively safe area to work in. Aid workers spoke yesterday of their worries that the attack signalled increased hostility towards foreign charities and relief agencies.
"It's very insecure now," said an aid worker based in Afghanistan for a large international charity. "The days when we could place the conflict in the south and not the rest of the country have gone."
Jennifer Raoul, who works for Care International in Afghanistan, agreed that the conflict has spread to the northern regions. "Now there are districts within Kabul that we can't get to. There is an encroachment of the conflict into the north and central regions that were quite stable for a number of years. I've witnessed this happening; the rate has been noticeable over the last year."
Aid workers repeatedly voiced their fears that their agencies are finding it harder than ever to show their independence from the foreign armed forces in the country, a crucial step in bringing the local population on board and ensuring their security.
"It's much harder for aid workers ... to demonstrate that they're truly independent," said one worker. Ms Raoul added: "Religious activists and social activists of all kinds are targeting aid workers because of the difficult times we're working in at present. There's no question that it's becoming harder to demonstrate our independence and neutrality. It's a turning point in the international military efforts in the country, so the presence of NGOs has been pulled into the broader political process.
"Life for NGOs is getting more complicated. The presence of NGOs is getting politicised; this is a change. We're entering a very tenuous political and military time in which anything is possible."
Shaun Bickley, a security consultant and author of a war zone handbook for NGO staff, stressed the need for aid agencies to differentiate themselves from military humanitarian operations.
"Aid agencies need to work separately," he said. "That means not giving mixed messages by becoming too closely involved in political and military causes. The battlefield is, after all, an environment so closely spaced together that it is difficult to get that distance." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/charities-say-war-has-crept-up-to-safer-north-2047369.html
2.Transit trade: a benign opportunity for Kabul: By Cyril Almeida in Dawn, Aug 09
KABUL: Expressing surprise at the reaction in Pakistan to a new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, Afghan Commerce Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi has revealed that the text of the updated ATTA is likely to be finalised in the next week and a formal signing ceremony between the two countries will be held at the end of the month, or possibly in early September.
In an interview in his office at the Commerce Ministry, Mr Ahadi was adamant the agreement was not unfair to Pakistan. “This agreement is based on reciprocity. What we have asked from Pakistan, we have offered too,” according to the minister. “Tell me anything that is unfair and we’ll fix it.”
The ATTA has drawn considerable criticism in Pakistan since Mr Ahadi and his Pakistani counterpart, Commerce Minister Amin Fahim, signed the record notes/minutes of the 7th meeting of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Working Group on July 18.
While the signed minutes have not been made public, sources familiar with the details corroborate that the crux is similar to what Amin Fahim has claimed publicly. The only material change likely to be made to the transit-trade mechanism is that Afghan trucks will be allowed to carry Afghan exports across Pakistan to the Wagah border.
Reciprocally, Pakistani trucks will be permitted to travel across Afghanistan to the Central Asian states, but security concerns in Afghanistan render that largely meaningless for the foreseeable future.
At Wagah, the Afghan trucks will be required to unload their cargo, which will be carried onwards into India by Indian transport. Indian goods will not be allowed across the Wagah border for onward transport to Afghanistan.
Existing arrangements for Indian exports to Afghanistan via Karachi will continue as before under the 1965 agreement which presently regulates trade between India and Afghanistan via Pakistan.
The controversy, then, appears largely to be about what isn’t in the new agreement rather than what is.
The 1965 ATTA is unpopular with Pakistani traders and in some local manufacturing circles. Critics charge that Indian goods meant for Afghanistan under the ATTA are diverted to the Pakistani market through smuggling and cheating in the transit-trade mechanism.
Tea, electronics, cosmetics, tyres and a number of other Indian goods whose import Pakistan prohibits or imposes heavy duties on are popular Afghan transit-trade imports. Since Afghan authorities impose few duties on the Indian products, the incentive for profit-making by diverting the goods to the Pakistani market is large.
In May, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance was told that 75 per cent of the estimated $5 billion in goods smuggled into Pakistan annually was ATTA-related. The transit trade has also attracted criticism from state officials concerned about the tax revenue lost on ATTA goods smuggled into Pakistan.
The export potential of Afghanistan, however, is extremely limited: beyond fresh and dried fruit, nuts and carpets there is nothing of note. Presently, fresh fruits hold the most export promise, but there are two problems: one, Pakistan grows similar fruits to Afghanistan; and two, demand in India cannot currently be met because Afghan trucks must unload their cargo at the Pak-Afghan border, a time-consuming process.
The revised ATTA will eliminate those impediments by allowing Afghan trucks to carry the fruit directly to Wagah. “Now we’ll be able to sell (fruit) to India,” according to the Afghan commerce minister. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-transit-trade-a-benign-opportunity-for-kabul-980-hh-12
Kabul; Aid agencies in Afghanistan have launched urgent reviews of their security in the wake of the killings of 10 medical workers in the north of the country.
Many had until now assumed that the north of Afghanistan was a comparatively safe area to work in. Aid workers spoke yesterday of their worries that the attack signalled increased hostility towards foreign charities and relief agencies.
"It's very insecure now," said an aid worker based in Afghanistan for a large international charity. "The days when we could place the conflict in the south and not the rest of the country have gone."
Jennifer Raoul, who works for Care International in Afghanistan, agreed that the conflict has spread to the northern regions. "Now there are districts within Kabul that we can't get to. There is an encroachment of the conflict into the north and central regions that were quite stable for a number of years. I've witnessed this happening; the rate has been noticeable over the last year."
Aid workers repeatedly voiced their fears that their agencies are finding it harder than ever to show their independence from the foreign armed forces in the country, a crucial step in bringing the local population on board and ensuring their security.
"It's much harder for aid workers ... to demonstrate that they're truly independent," said one worker. Ms Raoul added: "Religious activists and social activists of all kinds are targeting aid workers because of the difficult times we're working in at present. There's no question that it's becoming harder to demonstrate our independence and neutrality. It's a turning point in the international military efforts in the country, so the presence of NGOs has been pulled into the broader political process.
"Life for NGOs is getting more complicated. The presence of NGOs is getting politicised; this is a change. We're entering a very tenuous political and military time in which anything is possible."
Shaun Bickley, a security consultant and author of a war zone handbook for NGO staff, stressed the need for aid agencies to differentiate themselves from military humanitarian operations.
"Aid agencies need to work separately," he said. "That means not giving mixed messages by becoming too closely involved in political and military causes. The battlefield is, after all, an environment so closely spaced together that it is difficult to get that distance." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/charities-say-war-has-crept-up-to-safer-north-2047369.html
2.Transit trade: a benign opportunity for Kabul: By Cyril Almeida in Dawn, Aug 09
KABUL: Expressing surprise at the reaction in Pakistan to a new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, Afghan Commerce Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi has revealed that the text of the updated ATTA is likely to be finalised in the next week and a formal signing ceremony between the two countries will be held at the end of the month, or possibly in early September.
In an interview in his office at the Commerce Ministry, Mr Ahadi was adamant the agreement was not unfair to Pakistan. “This agreement is based on reciprocity. What we have asked from Pakistan, we have offered too,” according to the minister. “Tell me anything that is unfair and we’ll fix it.”
The ATTA has drawn considerable criticism in Pakistan since Mr Ahadi and his Pakistani counterpart, Commerce Minister Amin Fahim, signed the record notes/minutes of the 7th meeting of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Working Group on July 18.
While the signed minutes have not been made public, sources familiar with the details corroborate that the crux is similar to what Amin Fahim has claimed publicly. The only material change likely to be made to the transit-trade mechanism is that Afghan trucks will be allowed to carry Afghan exports across Pakistan to the Wagah border.
Reciprocally, Pakistani trucks will be permitted to travel across Afghanistan to the Central Asian states, but security concerns in Afghanistan render that largely meaningless for the foreseeable future.
At Wagah, the Afghan trucks will be required to unload their cargo, which will be carried onwards into India by Indian transport. Indian goods will not be allowed across the Wagah border for onward transport to Afghanistan.
Existing arrangements for Indian exports to Afghanistan via Karachi will continue as before under the 1965 agreement which presently regulates trade between India and Afghanistan via Pakistan.
The controversy, then, appears largely to be about what isn’t in the new agreement rather than what is.
The 1965 ATTA is unpopular with Pakistani traders and in some local manufacturing circles. Critics charge that Indian goods meant for Afghanistan under the ATTA are diverted to the Pakistani market through smuggling and cheating in the transit-trade mechanism.
Tea, electronics, cosmetics, tyres and a number of other Indian goods whose import Pakistan prohibits or imposes heavy duties on are popular Afghan transit-trade imports. Since Afghan authorities impose few duties on the Indian products, the incentive for profit-making by diverting the goods to the Pakistani market is large.
In May, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance was told that 75 per cent of the estimated $5 billion in goods smuggled into Pakistan annually was ATTA-related. The transit trade has also attracted criticism from state officials concerned about the tax revenue lost on ATTA goods smuggled into Pakistan.
The export potential of Afghanistan, however, is extremely limited: beyond fresh and dried fruit, nuts and carpets there is nothing of note. Presently, fresh fruits hold the most export promise, but there are two problems: one, Pakistan grows similar fruits to Afghanistan; and two, demand in India cannot currently be met because Afghan trucks must unload their cargo at the Pak-Afghan border, a time-consuming process.
The revised ATTA will eliminate those impediments by allowing Afghan trucks to carry the fruit directly to Wagah. “Now we’ll be able to sell (fruit) to India,” according to the Afghan commerce minister. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-transit-trade-a-benign-opportunity-for-kabul-980-hh-12
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