Sun 08 Aug, 2010

International Assistance Mission     اعلامیه مطبوعاتی ۱  ترجمه دری
On the death of 10 of the 12 Nuristan Eye Camp team members
(9 August 2010, Kabul, Afghanistan)

Representatives of the local and international press, from various Government Ministries, ladies and gentlemen,

As-salaam alaikum and good afternoon.

Today we are here to bring you sad news. It is now confirmed that the bodies of the 10 people found in Badakhshan on Friday were those of our missing Nuristan Eye Camp team. This is a sad day, particularly for the relatives and friends of those killed. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them. We pray that they will find strength in their faith and in their communities to bear this unbelievable loss.

IAM has worked in Afghanistan since 1966. We have about 500 Afghan colleagues and 50 international colleagues. Until last Thursday, none of our Afghan colleagues had ever been killed while on duty with IAM. In those 44 years, we have lost four international staff members. One woman was shot and killed in 1971 while she and her colleagues were having a picnic at Qarghah Lake. In the mid 70s, an engineer was killed in a strange car accident. In 1980, a Finnish couple were brutally murdered during a robbery at their home.

Today, we remember ten more colleagues who were killed on Thursday August 5.th They were members of the IAM Nuristan Eye Camp team who had just trekked one hundred miles back through the Hindu Kush mountains, giving eye care to some of the poorest and most remote communities in Afghanistan:

Thankfully, two of our Afghan eye camp team members survived, Mr. Said Yasin and Safiullah.

We want to pay tribute to each of our colleagues who died, to their commitment to serve the Afghan people. Those who have known them and seen them at work can do nothing put pay the highest tribute to them. Over the next few days and weeks, there will no doubt be many news articles about the lives of these individuals. They will speak for themselves. IAM will send all of you an email with pictures of the team members as well as a brief description of who they were and what made them such lovable people. In some news articles, the people on this team have been described as ‘saints.’ This is not how they saw themselves. They were basically selfless professionals willing to spend their lives and energy in a meaningful way. All of them volunteered to be on this team. Many people worldwide are interested in hearing more about them but I would ask the journalists here to please respect the fact that the families only heard last night that their dearly loved family members were confirmed dead. Please respect their need for privacy and time to grieve.

Before closing I would like to answer three questions. The first is whether the Nuristan Eye Camp Team had permission from the government to do this camp. The answer is YES. We have copies of the permission letter for you, both of the original letter in Dari and the English translation.

The second question is whether the team was proselytizing and distributing Dari Bibles. IAM is a Christian organization – we have never hidden this. Indeed, we are registered as such with the Afghan government. Our faith motivates and inspires us - but we do not proselytize. We abide by the laws of Afghanistan. We are signatures of the Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs Disaster Response Programmes, in other words, that, “aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.” But more than that, our record speaks for itself. IAM would not be invited back to villages if we were using aid as a cover for preaching. And in particular, this specific camp led by Tom Little, a man with four decades experience in Afghanistan, has led eye camps for many years to Nuristan – and was welcomed back every time.

The third question is how this tragedy is going to affect IAM’s work. It has already affected us. Both the Afghans and internationals among us are devastated. Most of our colleagues knew the majority of the team members personally. The depth of the loss will only now begin to sink in. The work of the NOOR eye care programme will certainly be affected as two of the four international staff are lost. Tom, the team leader of the eye camp, was the driving force behind much of what has been achieved in eye care in Afghanistan. He is irreplaceable.

An important factor that will influence IAM’s future is the question who committed these murders. We have the assurance that the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the FBI and others involved in the investigation will do whatever they can to find out who committed this crime. As things stand right now, IAM is not thinking of withdrawing from Afghanistan. Our NGO has worked here for well over four decades. And we remember that there were times when security was much worse than it is now.

IAM works in Afghanistan as the guest of the people and the government. As long as we are welcome here, we will, God-willing, continue to stay and serve the Afghan people.

Dirk R Frans
Executive Director
International Assistance Mission

For more information please contact media@iam-afghansitan.org or Warrick Gilbert at +93 (0)799 755 105