Today, Wednesday 11th April, Emergency's international staff left Kabul for Dubai. The reasons for this decision and the meaning of this choice are explained in the following statement, which will be published also in Afghanistan, in English and in the local languages. 

 

EMERGENCY'S INTERNATIONAL STAFF LEAVE AFGHANISTAN

 

Following the disgraceful statement of Mr. Amrullah Saleh, head of the Afghan Intelligence Service, who in an interview with an Italian newspaper quoted by the international press has defined Emergency an organization that "supports terrorists and Al Qaeda men in Afghanistan", we appeal to all the Afghan citizens who have come to know Emergency's work in the surgical centers of Anabah, Kabul and Lashkar-Gah, in the Maternity center in Panjsheer, in the 25 clinics and first aid posts, in the 6 clinics inside the afghan jails.

 

Since 1999, Emergency medical facilities have provided free high-standard assistance to over 1,4 million Afghan citizens. We appeal to them, to their families, to all Afghans asking them to join us in reminding the Afghan government the humanitarian and neutral nature of Emergency's work in Afghanistan, a work aimed to provide medical care to everybody, regardless of their politics, gender, religion or ethnicity.

 

The Afghan government is resorting to every means to force Emergency to leave Afghanistan: not only with Amrullah Saleh's terroristic statements - which sound like an open invitation to attack our organization - but also with the outrageous and senseless detention of the Security manager of Emergency hospital in Lashkar-Gah, Mr. Rahmatullah Hanefi, who, on behalf of Emergency, put his life at risk in order to save other people's lives.

 

Today, April 11, 2007, Emergency has been forced to temporarily withdraw its international staff from Afghanistan, due to security reasons. At the moment, Emergency's medical facilities are working and operational thanks to the skill and devotion of the Afghan staff.

 

If in the future Emergency's medical facilities were not capable of providing the same service, may the Afghan citizens know that responsability for this is entirely upon their government, who cast defamatory accusations on our organization, putting at risk the security of our patients and of our Afghan and international staff.

Emergency will continue to be close to the sufferings of the Afghan people, of those millions of innocent civilians who, for decades, have undergone the atrocities of war.