Oxfam America Reacts to US and Allied Military Action

Posted: 7 October 2001

As US military action begins against targets in Afghanistan, Oxfam America:

1. Repeats the need to avoid civilian targets, as laid down for all military action in the Geneva Conventions and Protocols;

2. Welcomes the offers of humanitarian aid from the US and all donors. At the same time, we hope that emergency assistance will be channelled through the UN as far as is possible, so that it is demonstrably impartial and separate from military action. Aid workers would be put in a difficult position, and life-saving aid could be impeded, if aid distributions are seen to be linked to military action;

3. Calls on all parties to avoid encouraging the movement of Afghans towards Pakistan and other borders, because, for one thing, the identified sites for their arrival are still far from ready.

Oxfam has worked in Afghanistan for 12 years and continues to run operations inside Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border.