The plight of Afghan civilians? Don't ask the U.N.
IRIN
Ameerah Haq is one of the two Deputy Special Representatives for Afghanistan appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She is responsible for Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction (RRR), as well being Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan.
QUESTION: Is the UN concerned that civilians are not being protected in this new upswing in conflict, particularly in the south and east?
ANSWER: Certainly the UN is always concerned about the protection of civilians, it is our humanitarian mandate to protect civilians. Unfortunately, we don't really have proper and accurate information about the number of civilian casualties in the recent upsurge in the south.
I think it will be very useful for us to get the figure from the government or other sources on what the civilian casualties are but certainly it's the UN's humanitarian mandate more than anything else that we must advocate on behalf of civilians.
We will always try to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict but I think our frustration is, as I said before, that we really don't know the number of civilian casualties. The BBC estimate is about 900 - that is the number I have seen but I don't know the real number.
...Q: Do you have information on the number of civilians displaced currently in the south by the violence?
A: We don't have a number for those who are mostly at risk in the south, but we are monitoring through the UN agencies who have operations in those areas - for example on refugees and internal displacements we know that there have been some internal displacements as a result of Operation Mountain Thrust [coalition anti-Taliban operation] three weeks ago.
It's probably in the hundreds but ...
... Q: Many civilians have been accidentally killed in coalition operations in recent months. Has the UN been able to influence the US-led coalition's rules of engagement to try and protect local people during these attacks?
A: I think the UN always has tried. Our aim is always to try to reduce casualties in any effort. But in terms of specific rules of engagement here in Afghanistan we have not had any specific discussion with the coalition on this issue.Link
Ameerah Haq is one of the two Deputy Special Representatives for Afghanistan appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She is responsible for Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction (RRR), as well being Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan.
QUESTION: Is the UN concerned that civilians are not being protected in this new upswing in conflict, particularly in the south and east?
ANSWER: Certainly the UN is always concerned about the protection of civilians, it is our humanitarian mandate to protect civilians. Unfortunately, we don't really have proper and accurate information about the number of civilian casualties in the recent upsurge in the south.
I think it will be very useful for us to get the figure from the government or other sources on what the civilian casualties are but certainly it's the UN's humanitarian mandate more than anything else that we must advocate on behalf of civilians.
We will always try to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict but I think our frustration is, as I said before, that we really don't know the number of civilian casualties. The BBC estimate is about 900 - that is the number I have seen but I don't know the real number.
...Q: Do you have information on the number of civilians displaced currently in the south by the violence?
A: We don't have a number for those who are mostly at risk in the south, but we are monitoring through the UN agencies who have operations in those areas - for example on refugees and internal displacements we know that there have been some internal displacements as a result of Operation Mountain Thrust [coalition anti-Taliban operation] three weeks ago.
It's probably in the hundreds but ...
... Q: Many civilians have been accidentally killed in coalition operations in recent months. Has the UN been able to influence the US-led coalition's rules of engagement to try and protect local people during these attacks?
A: I think the UN always has tried. Our aim is always to try to reduce casualties in any effort. But in terms of specific rules of engagement here in Afghanistan we have not had any specific discussion with the coalition on this issue.Link
posted by exoplanet at 11:41 PM
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