{"id":115629,"date":"2025-09-03T02:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115629\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T02:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:04:07","slug":"canada-assessing-how-it-can-provide-aid-for-afghans-after-deadly-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115629\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada assessing how it can provide aid for Afghans after deadly earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Afghan men walk on the rubble of a damaged house in Mazar Dara on Tuesday following a deadly earthquake that has killed more than 1,400 people.SAYED HASSIB\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Ottawa says it is evaluating ways to assist Afghanistan<\/a> after a deadly earthquake, a challenge made more difficult by the fact that the country is governed by the Taliban \u2013 a designated terrorist organization under Canada\u2019s Criminal Code.<\/p>\n

The Taliban first appealed for international aid after one of the central Asian country\u2019s worst earthquakes killed more than 1,400 people<\/a> and injured more than 3,100 earlier this week. A second quake struck Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The disaster is further stretching the resources of the war-torn nation\u2019s Taliban administration, already grappling with a sharp drop in foreign aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canada doesn\u2019t provide aid to the Taliban, said Shanti Cosentino, director of communications for Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State for International Development. However, in the past, it has worked through humanitarian organizations on the ground in Afghanistan, including United Nations World Food Programme. She said the funding Ottawa has previously given these groups can be used to alleviate suffering caused by the recent quakes. <\/p>\n

Canadian law prevents Ottawa from providing funding to listed terrorist entities, but the federal government has the power to authorize exceptions that allow humanitarian assistance for territories controlled by terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is, if you\u2019re giving money to aid organizations and operating in Afghanistan, the Taliban is going to take some of that money, some of that aid, some of those goods,\u201d said Jessica Davis, president and principal consultant of security advisory firm Insight Threat Intelligence.<\/p>\n

Stolen aid \u201cmakes them stronger. It makes them better able to do the kinds of things they want to do \u2013 take over more territory, conduct terrorist attacks,\u201d she said. \u201cBut on the other hand, if we don\u2019t give aid, the human suffering is immense. So we\u2019re really caught between a rock and a hard place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taliban asks for international aid as earthquake devastates eastern Afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n

Russia becomes first nation to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada shuttered operations at its Afghan embassy after Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021. Today, Ottawa has a special representative for Afghanistan based in Qatar.<\/p>\n

Arif Lalani, a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, said humanitarian aid should be offered immediately. He said it\u2019s unfortunate Canadian diplomats are not working from a mission inside the country. \u201cConcerns about delivery would be alleviated if Canada had continued its diplomatic presence on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cl\u00e9mence Grevey, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, said in a statement that Canada \u201cstands ready to provide further support as requested.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said humanitarian partners are on the ground and have begun preparing emergency needs assessments \u2013 a process hampered by \u201cthe challenging mountainous and remote regions\u201d of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada is saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake in Afghanistan. We stand with the people affected by the earthquake,\u201d Ms. Grevey said.<\/p>\n

Humanitarian organizations are mobilizing to help people affected by the earthquakes, and all four that The Globe and Mail spoke to urged Canadians, as well as the federal government, to provide more assistance.<\/p>\n

Asma Faizi, the president of the Afghan Women\u2019s Organization, said that this natural disaster is just compounding an already difficult situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cInnocent women and children who\u2019ve been caught in the middle of all of these conflicts are disproportionately facing the impact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Faizi said she is concerned that women and girls will suffer because of a lack of female doctors and nurses. The Taliban has banned women from attending medical education institutions<\/a>, according to Human Rights Watch, and has also forbidden women in some provinces from being treated by male medical professionals.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Afghan boys injured during the earthquakes receive treatment at a hospital in Jalalabad on Tuesday.WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Patrick Robitaille, the head of humanitarian affairs for Save the Children Canada, said his organization is on the ground. It is in discussions with the Canadian government about providing aid, he added, as it always is when significant events happen.<\/p>\n

As an independent organization, Save the Children ensures it is in \u201cdirect contact with the communities, with the families, with the children that need our aid,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (Doctors Without Borders) Canada executive director Sana B\u00e9g said her organization reached Jalalabad on Tuesday, which is near the epicentre of the earthquake. It has donated emergency kits and is in the process of assessing the situation, she said. <\/p>\n

MSF has operated in Afghanistan since before the Taliban\u2019s takeover, Ms. B\u00e9g said. The aid it provides is not, for example, bulk cash to a political entity, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deliver directly through our own clinics and facilities where we treat medical needs,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t treat political affiliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

UNICEF Canada chief program officer Farida Deif said that among other actions, her organization is deploying mobile health teams to affected districts to provide first aid. <\/p>\n

Ms. Deif said UNICEF has worked in Taliban-controlled areas for years, and in Afghanistan for seven decades.<\/p>\n

So far, Britain has allocated \u00a31-million (US$1.35-million) to support the efforts of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n

India has delivered 1,000 tents and was moving 15 tonnes of food supplies to Kunar, with more relief to be sent on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Other governments in China, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, Pakistan and Iran have pledged help but aid is yet to arrive. <\/p>\n

With reports from Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Afghan men walk on the rubble of a damaged house in Mazar Dara…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-115629","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}