11/16/2001

Testimony by
Joel R. Charny
Vice President for Policy, Refugees International

To the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism
November 15, 2001

I want to thank Senator Wellstone and Senator Boxer for organizing this hearing on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and for inviting me to testify on behalf of Refugees International. I was recently in Pakistan, where I had the opportunity to monitor the situation in Afghanistan as viewed by the aid agencies based in Islamabad and to travel to the Afghan border at the Chaman border crossing with Pakistan. RI, which has been covering the humanitarian crisis in Central Asia for the past year, presently has an advocate in Peshawar, the other main border crossing point; he is monitoring the impact of current events on the movement of people in the eastern part of Afghanistan. My testimony will draw both on our experience on the ground and on RI’s on-going analysis of the overall humanitarian situation in this highly complex emergency.

The capture of the northern half of Afghanistan is a military victory for the anti-Taliban forces that should translate into a much-needed humanitarian victory for the United States and others trying to fight famine and give hope to the Afghan people. Specific, immediate actions are required, however, to translate the recent military successes into humanitarian action that delivers assistance to Afghans in a timely and effective manner.