Aid Shipment to Afghanistan Cancelled Due to Anti-Terrorist Law

Two containers of food bound for Afghanistan have been cancelled by a Canadian aid agency because of a law banning any dealings with the Taliban.

World Vision says it has been forced to cancel a large shipment of “therapeutic food,” which it said could have fed around 1,800 children.

Canada passed a law in 2013 listing the Taliban as a terrorist organization and listing penalties of up to 10 years in prison if Canadians directly or indirectly provide them with property or finances.

Aid agencies working in Afghanistan complain the law, in its current form, is impeding their work because they cannot help anyone who may have official dealings with what is now the Afghan government, including those paying rent or taxes.

A spokeswoman for International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says he is working with the departments of Public Safety and Justice to look at “necessary changes” to the law help the Afghan people.

But he has stressed previously that the government has no plans to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.

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