Malaysian Humanitarian Centre's aid efforts welcomed in Afghanistan

KABUL: A one-stop centre to coordinate all Malaysian relief efforts in Afghanistan that officially opened its doors last week, thus far has helped coordinate distribution of food and other assistance to poor families in Kabul and Jalalabad, in the restive Nangarhar province.

The Malaysian Humanitarian Centre (MHC) is run by the charitable foundation Global Peace Mission Malaysia (GPM), with three other Malaysian aid groups - MyCare, Global Waqf, Global Ikhwan - and four local NGOs - Ehsas Welfare and Social Service Organisation, Humanitarian Assistance Society, Afghan Welfare Society and Just for Afghan Capacity and Knowledge (JACK).

GPM CEO Ahmad Fahmi Mohd Samsudin told Bernama the group decided to set up the one-stop centre last year to coordinate relief efforts by Malaysian groups who may be unfamiliar with Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan is a big country. Kabul is our centre. They will have to check-in at the centre first before going elsewhere, like Kunduz, or Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, etc," he said.

He said the office would help keep track of the number of Malaysians here, which he said has been increasing after the fall of the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government in August last year. Malaysia does not have an embassy in Afghanistan.

The coordination effort was especially important to ensure that all Malaysian groups have had an impact on the communities and areas they had come to help. He added GPM has had decades of experience in the Central Asian country with which to do this.

He said the centre would also provide some rebuilding assistance to Afghanistan by providing training on-site and by putting Malaysian trade and groups in touch with relevant people in the government and country.

JACK's Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Dr Abdullah Asady welcomed the centre's objectives, saying Afghanistan could not exist on humanitarian assistance for long.

"It's not sustainable because the welfare intervention is not based on the domestic capacity of the people. The grants and charity intervention cannot sustain (us) anymore," he said.

His group provides education, humanitarian and health assistance for Afghans, especially those in hard-to-reach areas.

Afghanistan has been suffering a humanitarian crisis after the Taliban took over last year, following the hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO countries. The international community has not recognised the legitimacy of the administration, and froze assets and funds promised to rebuild the country. The UN World Food Programme has predicted 95 per cent of the Afghan population would fall below the poverty line in a few months if the situation continues.

News of the MHC's establishment caused confusion a week ago when US scholar Aaron Y. Zelin from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy mistakenly tweeted that the centre was a Malaysian government office for "aid and economic cooperation".

Opening a government office in Afghanistan could be seen as officially recognising the Taliban-led government, something Malaysia has been careful to avoid.

-- BERNAMA