Aid workers in Iraq under threat, say NGO officials

There has been an increase in the number of threats against local and international humanitarian workers by unknown sources, say locally-based NGO officials. "This week alone we were informed that five key Iraqi aid workers have abandoned their duties because of serious and constant threats against them," said Waleed Rashdi, spokesman for the Aid Agencies Association in Iraq. "We face serious difficulties in doing our work because if we help people we receive threats, and if we don't help, we receive similar threats." According to Cedric Turlan, information officer for the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq, more than 50 Iraqi and foreign aid workers have been killed since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. In 2005 alone, at least eight local and foreign aid workers were killed, and another two have been killed since January of this year. Turlan pointed out, however, that the number of local aid workers killed may be higher, due to a lack of statistical information. "We don't have precise figures regarding local aid workers murdered," he said. "In some cases, the killing of local aid workers isn't reported because they work anonymously." Turlan went on to note that more than 130 threats against international NGOs have been recorded since 2003 while many aid agencies reduced their staff levels following the August 2003 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. More than 80 international NGOs and dozens of Iraqi NGOs are currently working in the country under strenuous security conditions. "I had to leave work when I received many threats because I was helping displaced people," said a former aid worker for one NGO operating locally, preferring anonymity. "I was sent an envelope with a bullet in it and a letter splashed with blood, saying that if I didn't leave my job within 48 hours, I'd be the victim of the next bullet." The Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has received a number of anonymous threats as well, especially during military operations. Since 2004, several volunteers have stopped working for the organization. "We haven't been safe since the war began," said one IRCS volunteer. "The threats come from different quarters and are difficult to ignore, because the end result is usually death." According to Rashdi, violence against aid workers has increased dramatically in recent months, especially following a spate of sectarian violence. "Local aid workers can also suffer as a result of their ethnic or religious background," he explained. "It shouldn't matter whether we're Arab Sunnis, Arab Shiites or Kurds–we just want to help those in need, whatever their ethnicity or religion." Turlan noted that violence against aid workers is also having serious repercussions on local populations. "The main consequence is that, when the population most needs the aid workers, they're deprived of the NGOs' support, and their basic needs remain unfulfilled," he said.