The Star: November 04, 2021

The Star Thursday November 4 2021
12
NEWS
CHRISTCHURCH journalist
Charlotte Bellis is back in
Afghanistan after leaving for
several weeks because of safety
worries.
Bellis said while she feels safe
at the moment, the main problem
is the terrorist group, ISIS-K,
who have made threats against
the hotel where she is staying in
the country’s capital Kabul.
“The situation here is pretty
dire and there are a lot of stories
still to be told and I feel invested
in what’s happening here and
I also just love the country. It’s
a beautiful place to be with
amazing people and I genuinely
like being here,” she told RNZ’s
Sunday Morning programme.
In just a few weeks the
situation in Afghanistan has
deteriorated sharply as millions
cope without desperately needed
international aid, Bellis said.
Bellis is Al Jazeera’s senior
producer in Afghanistan and
reported on the turmoil in August
as the Taliban took over the
government and thousands of
people tried to flee.
She has dealt with Taliban
leaders for a long time, and has
sensed a change in their attitudes
since they first ruled the country
before being toppled 20 years
ago.
She had to leave the country
in mid-September because the
network feared for her safety and
Bellis noted on Twitter that the
Taliban were detaining and beating
journalists trying to cover
protests.
Now she has returned and told
Sunday Morning that she wasn’t
worried about her safety.
However, the country is facing
an uncertain future with its
population suffering more than
ever now that international aid
has been cut off.
Bellis agrees with the United
Nations warning Afghanistan
is becoming the world’s largest
humanitarian crisis.
“The Taliban took over about
two months ago and I just can’t
believe how quickly everything
has deteriorated.
“People cannot find food,
there’s no money, they can’t pay
for things, employers can’t pay
their workers because there’s no
cash, they can’t get money out
even from the ATMs.”
Millions of jobs have disappeared,
half of the population
does not know where their next
meal is coming from and already
children are dying from malnutrition,
Bellis said.
All the aid agencies are appealing
to the world to listen.
She is going to go out with
the UN Refugee Agency whose
teams are organising some aid
distribution as the temperatures
drop to 2 deg C overnight as
winter approaches. They are
handing out blankets, food and
some cash to thousands of the
needy in camps in Kabul.
“But it’s such a Band-Aid.
There is no way they can reach
the number of people they need
to reach – it’s like 23 million
people who need that kind of
assistance.”
Neighbouring countries such
as Pakistan and Iran are very
concerned, in part because they
fear a huge influx of refugees.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Bellis back in Kabul: ‘I just can’t believe
how quickly everything has deteriorated’
DIRE: Bellis says people cannot find food and children
are dying of malnutrition in Afghanistan, as aid agencies
appeal for the world to listen. PHOTO: YOUTUBE/RNZ
They have closed the borders to
try and keep them away.
The process of getting money
and food into people’s hands has
broken down, she said, with a lot
of it due to United States sanctions.
Three quarters of the country
ran on foreign donations before
the Taliban took over and
that has dried up because no
countries are recognising the
Taliban’s legitimacy to govern.
Bellis has spoken to one senior
Taliban official who said that
at recent meetings between the
Taliban and the US in Doha
the Americans would not tell
the Taliban what policies they
needed to enact to unfreeze billions
of dollars in funding.
“They [the Americans] are
playing with millions of people’s
lives,” said Bellis.
She believes some Taliban
leaders are pragmatic and would
be willing to agree to high school
girls being educated but are
worried they will alienate their
conservative base.
In the main, primary school
age girls are able to attend their
lessons but the problem is at
secondary school level.
“If you’re a high school girl in
Kabul it’s awful – sitting around
thinking how did this happen.
It’s really frustrating and really
frustrating for everyone to watch
and say this doesn’t make sense.”
The Taliban have said they will
protect guests and have placed
dozens of extra guards outside.
ISIS-K is believed to only
number between 1200 and 1500
yet they are a potent force with
their random attacks, such as beheading
members of the Taliban,
whom they hate.
Bellis believes the Taliban’s
biggest worry is that ISIS will appeal
to its most fundamentalist
members.
ISIS is also believed to be
trying to attract recruits who
PHOTO: GETTY
PHOTO: GETTY
would be trained as fighters and
be paid $400 a month, which is a
substantial amount of money in
Afghanistan.
Bellis said she feels guilty
staying at a hotel with the scale
of poverty and deprivation she is
witnessing.
“Right outside the door people
are desperate.”
She visited a major maternity
hospital in Kabul last week and
the only medication available
for women giving birth was
Paracetamol.
“Imagine going into labour
and thinking, okay if anything
goes wrong I’ve got Paracetamol.
It’s just life and death on so
many levels.” —RNZ
SAME DAY
RELINES
At Better Denture
we have a range
of services and
options available. New Dentures > Relines > Repairs >
6 Brynley St, Hornby, Christchurch
Phone: 03 349 5050
www.betterdenture.co.nz
DO YOU HAVE A
DAMAGED
prOpErtY?
• We buy As Is Where Is
• No AgeNt fees
• settlemeNt to suIt you
03 365 9131 • resolvemyhome.co.nz
resolvemyhome
$1000 prEzzY cArD fOr EVErY sUccEssfUl sAlE. t & c’s ApplY.