Statement by Dr Jaslin Salmon, Vice-President, IFRC, at the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Provisional Agenda Item 5.4 (Commission E): “International Humanitarian Law and Humanitarian Access and Assistance”, in Geneva
Mr President, Mr Secretary, Honourable Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) welcomes the initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to open a dialogue on this critical issue.
For the last ten years, the IFRC has been consulting globally with states, National Societies, and other humanitarian organizations about humanitarian access issues, in the context of our programme on International Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles, or IDRL. Those consultations have focused on non-conflict disasters, which are different from conflict situations in many important ways. Nevertheless, there are a few points coming out of this experience that may inform today’s discussion.
First, there is a much greater tendency in armed conflicts than in natural disasters that the relevant parties will openly refuse access to humanitarian aid, sometimes at gunpoint. In the disaster context, the most common barriers to access relate rather to bureaucratic bottlenecks, for example, in the provision of visas for relief personnel, clearance of relief goods and equipment through customs, taxation of humanitarian relief, and the like. Nevertheless, participants in the many meetings we have organized have often remarked that those bureaucratic barriers are also very present in conflict settings and have not been given much attention at the international level.
Second, in our consultations, many key stakeholders admitted a lack of knowledge about the requirements of existing international humanitarian law concerning humanitarian access. This is particularly true outside the traditional targets of IHL dissemination, such as civil protection officials, customs officers, port officials, tax officials, etc., all of whom may have a role to play in facilitating access.
Third, there is a growing concern among some states and humanitarian actors about the growing numbers and variety of international responders in the wake of many crises, including both disasters and conflicts. The critical differences between neutral, humanitarian organizations and others are becoming blurred in many minds, as are the differences between actors that are capable and willing to meet internationally-agreed standards of quality in their humanitarian operations and those that are not. This can have important ramifications on the willingness of some states (and armed parties) to meet their responsibilities concerning access under IHL.
We believe that there is a need for states to increase their domestic legal preparedness for facilitating and overseeing humanitarian relief as a whole. This will require a good understanding both of the differences and the similarities between relief in conflicts and disasters. National Societies are well placed to provide advice and support to their authorities on these issues, both from the point of view of IHL and IDRL. The IFRC is very happy to offer its cooperation to them and to the ICRC in moving forward.
Thank you.