Opinion: Aid Workers Across the World Facing Greater Risks

The long-held assumption that as long as humanitarian groups remain neutral their security won’t be threatened no longer holds true in many regions consumed with conflict, as evidenced by the increase in attacks against aid workers across the world, said Michael Kleinman in an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times.

The recent killings of three aid workers and their driver in Logar province in Afghanistan was followed by a Taliban statement saying, “We don’t value their aid projects, and we don’t think they are working for the progress of the country,” highlighting the increasing lack of tolerance for and intentional violence against such groups.

Since January, 23 aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan, 20 in Somalia, and 10 in Darfur. Attacks against aid workers almost doubled from 1997 to 2005.

Related reading: The threats against humanitarian workers pose a recruiting challenge for charities, notes an article from the Chronicle archive.

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