Firms led by US military veterans deliver aid in Africa and Gaza, alarming humanitarian groups
AI- Generated Image
On a plane over Upper Nile State (South Sudan), Jun 18 Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict.
Last week's air drop was the latest in a controversial development - private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world's deadliest conflict zones, in operations organised with governments that are combatants in the conflicts.
The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarised, politicised and profit-seeking trend that could allow governments or combatants to use life-saving aid to control hungry civilian populations and advance war aims.
In South Sudan and Gaza, two for-profit US companies led by American national security veterans are delivering aid in operations backed by the South Sudanese and Israeli governments.
The American contractors say they're putting their security, logistics and intelligence skills to work in relief operations. Fogbow, the US company that carried out last week's air drops over South Sudan, says it aims to be a "humanitarian" force.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Play Chess on Your PC, Free
Play Classic Chess
Install Now
Undo
"We've worked for careers, collectively, in conflict zones. And we know how to essentially make very difficult situations work," said Fogbow President Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer and former senior defence official in the first Trump administration, speaking on the airport tarmac in Juba, South Sudan's capital.
But the UN and many leading non-profit groups say US contracting firms are stepping into aid distribution with little transparency or humanitarian experience, and, crucially, without commitment to humanitarian principles of neutrality and operational independence in war zones.
"What we've learned over the years of successes and failures is there's a difference between a logistics operation and a security operation, and a humanitarian operation," said Scott Paul, a director at Oxfam America.
"Truck and chuck' doesn't help people," Paul said. "It puts people at risk."
We don't want to replace any entity'
Fogbow took journalists up in a cargo plane to watch their team drop 16 tons of beans, corn and salt for South Sudan's Upper Nile state town of Nasir.
Residents fled homes there after fighting erupted in March between the government and opposition groups.
Mulroy acknowledged the controversy over Fogbow's aid drops, which he said were paid for by the South Sudanese government.
But, he maintained: "We don't want to replace any entity" in aid work.
Shared roots in Gaza and US intelligence
Fogbow was in the spotlight last year for its proposal to use barges to bring aid to Gaza, where Israeli restrictions were blocking overland deliveries.
The United States focused instead on a US military effort to land aid via a temporary pier.
Since then, Fogbow has carried out aid drops in Sudan and South Sudan, east African nations where wars have created some of the world's gravest humanitarian crises.
Fogbow says ex-humanitarian officials are also involved, including former UN World Food Program head David Beasley, who is a senior adviser.
Operating in Gaza, meanwhile, Safe Reach Solutions, led by a former CIA officer and other retired US security officers, has partnered with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed nonprofit that Israel says is the linchpin of a new aid system to wrest control from the UN, which Israel says has been infiltrated by Hamas, and other humanitarian groups.
Starting in late May, the American-led operation in Gaza has distributed food at fixed sites in southern Gaza, in line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated plan to use aid to concentrate the territory's more than 2 million people in the south, freeing Israel to fight Hamas elsewhere. Aid workers fear it's a step toward another of Netanyahu's public goals, removing Palestinians from Gaza in "voluntary" migrations.
Since then, several hundred Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in near daily shootings as they tried to reach aid sites, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Witnesses say Israeli troops regularly fire heavy barrages toward the crowds in an attempt to control them.
The Israeli military has denied firing on civilians. It says it fired warning shots in several instances, and fired directly at a few "suspects" who ignored warnings and approached its forces.
It's unclear who is funding the new operation in Gaza. No donor has come forward, and the US says it's not funding it.
In response to criticism over its Gaza aid deliveries, Safe Reach Solutions said it has former aid workers on its team with "decades of experience in the world's most complex environments" who bring "expertise to the table, along with logisticians and other experts."
South Sudan's people ask: Who's getting our aid drops?
Last week's air drop over South Sudan went without incident, despite fighting nearby.
A white cross marked the drop zone. Only a few people could be seen. Fogbow contractors said there were more newly returned townspeople on previous drops.
Fogbow acknowledges glitches in mastering aid drops, including one last year in Sudan's South Kordofan region that ended up with too-thinly-wrapped grain sacks split open on the ground.
After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has struggled to emerge from a civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.
Rights groups say its government is one of the world's most corrupt, and until now has invested little in quelling the dire humanitarian crisis.
South Sudan said it engaged Fogbow for air drops partly because of the Trump administration's deep cuts in US Agency for International Development funding. Humanitarian Minister Albino Akol Atak said the drops will expand to help people in need throughout the country.
But two South Sudanese groups question the government's motives.
"We don't want to see a humanitarian space being abused by military actors under the cover of a food drop," said Edmund Yakani, head of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a local civil society group.
Asked about suspicions the aid drops were helping South Sudan's military aims, Fogbow's Mulroy said the group has worked with the UN World Food Program to make sure "this aid is going to civilians."
"If it wasn't going to civilians, we would hope that we would get that feedback, and we would cease and desist," Mulroy said.
In a statement, WFP country director Mary-Ellen McGroarty said: "WFP is not involved in the planning, targeting or distribution of food air-dropped" by Fogbow on behalf of South Sudan's government, citing humanitarian principles.
A business-driven model'
Long time humanitarian leaders and analysts are troubled by what they see as a teaming up of warring governments and for-profit contractors in aid distribution.
When one side in a conflict decides where and how aid is handed out, and who gets it, "it will always result in some communities getting preferential treatment," said Jan Egeland, executive director of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Sometimes, that set-up will advance strategic aims, as with Netanyahu's plans to move Gaza's civilians south, Egeland said.
The involvement of soldiers and security workers, he added, can make it too "intimidating" for some in need to even try to get aid.
Until now, Western donors always understood those risks, Egeland said. But pointing to the Trump administration's backing of the new aid system in Gaza, he asked: "Why does the US want to support what they have resisted with every other war zone for two generations?"
Mark Millar, who has advised the UN and Britain on humanitarian matters in South Sudan and elsewhere, said involving private military contractors risks undermining the distinction between humanitarian assistance and armed conflict.
Private military contractors "have even less sympathy for a humanitarian perspective that complicates their business-driven model," he said. "And once let loose, they seem to be even less accountable."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
31 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Donald Trump hints at Israel-Iran ceasefire, warns Iran has ‘maximum' two weeks
President Donald Trump on Friday indicated he may support a ceasefire in the ongoing aerial conflict between Israel and Iran, now in its second week, but said it would depend on how events unfold. US President Donald Trump expressed doubt over Europe's ability to mediate the ongoing Israel Iran conflict.(Bloomberg) Asked by reporters if he would back a truce while diplomatic talks continue, Trump replied, "I might, depending on the circumstances." He also warned that Iran has a limited timeframe to avoid possible U.S. military action. "I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump said, hinting that a decision could come sooner. Trump expressed doubt over Europe's ability to mediate the conflict. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one," he said. On the same day, Iran's foreign minister held talks with British, French, German, and EU counterparts in Geneva to discuss restarting diplomatic efforts on its nuclear program. European leaders urged Tehran to engage directly with Washington, but the discussions ended without a breakthrough. When asked whether U.S. ground troops would be required if conflict escalates, Trump said, "Well, I'm not going to talk about ground forces, because the last thing you want to do is ground forces." The Israel-Iran air war began on June 13, when Israel launched strikes on Iranian territory, claiming the goal was to stop Iran from advancing its nuclear weapons capability. Israel, which is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, is a member of the NPT and responded with retaliatory strikes. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, Israel's attacks have killed 639 people in Iran. Meanwhile, Israel has reported 24 civilian deaths from Iranian strikes. Trump and the White House have said a decision on US involvement in the conflict will be made within two weeks. So far, Trump's stance has ranged from promoting a diplomatic resolution to signalling potential military support for Israel, leaving global observers uncertain about the US course of action. Europe joins Tehran talks as two-week clock ticks President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed the prospects of European diplomacy resolving the Israel-Iran conflict, reiterating that Iran is uninterested in engaging with European leaders. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this," Trump said upon arriving in Morristown, New Jersey. He also played down the possibility of urging Israel to pause its military actions, responding to Iran's demand that Israel cease its strikes before Tehran resumes dialogue with Washington. When asked if he would press Israel to halt attacks, Trump said it was "very hard to make that request right now," adding, "If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens." Addressing the timeline for a potential US military response, Trump said, "I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," explaining that the goal was to "see whether or not people come to their senses." A day earlier, Trump had said he would "make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks" because of a "substantial chance of negotiations" with Iran. That statement was interpreted as opening a short diplomatic window, prompting European leaders to meet with Iran's foreign minister in Geneva. However, Trump said the discussions "didn't help," and his latest remarks suggest he may act sooner if there's no progress on Iran's nuclear programme. (With inputs from agencies)
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
HC judge calls for deeper engagement with law
Dimapur: Justice Y Longkumer, judge of Gauhati High Court, Kohima bench, on Friday called for deeper engagement with law, greater professional development and renewed commitment to justice by the lawyers. She said the panel lawyers, who often serve as the first line of access to justice for the marginalised and under-represented, now play a unique and essential role as educators, advisors and counsellors for common citizens at a time when the Indian legal system is undergoing a pivotal transition with the introduction of new criminal laws. Longkumer was speaking at the one-day orientation programme organised by the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority on new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — for panel/retainer lawyers and Legal Aid Defence Counsel System lawyers in Kohima. She said the Indian criminal justice system is undergoing significant reforms with the introduction of the BNS, BNSS and BSA, replacing the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act. "These new legislative reforms are not just mere cosmetic changes but represent a new way of thinking on how the justice system is perceived, delivered and experienced by the common citizens," Longkumer said. She said the lawyers, who serve in the legal services panel, are often the first line of access to justice for the marginalised and under-represented, and their role now is more important than ever. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top Cardiologist Says This Food Can Do Wonders For Your Health Gundry MD Learn More Undo "You have to learn to adapt to changes with professionalism and as it is with any legal transition, there will be challenges and uncertainties in the interpretation," the judge said. On existing practical difficulties, Longkumer cited the existence of different interpretations and sources, questions and the practical burden of unlearning and relearning while observing that now they have to change their mindset and start to unlearn the IPC, CrPC and learn the new laws.
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
Amid Bharat Mata row, state to include school lesson on guv's ‘real role'
Thiruvananthapuram: The controversy over the display of a Bharat Mata portrait allegedly used in RSS shakhas at functions in Raj Bhavan has all the signs of snowballing into a protracted showdown between the state govt and governor Rajendra V Arlekar. A day after walking out of an event at Raj Bhavan for the same, general education minister V Sivankutty on Friday said the real role and responsibilities of governors, as defined in the Constitution, would be included in the Class X social science textbook in this academic year. The decision, he said, was taken in view of the increasing attempts to weaken elected state govts using governors. "Since schools are the best places to instil democratic values, the constitutional powers of the governor will be included as a prominent section in the SSLC textbook," he said. Raj Bhavan sources, meanwhile, said the governor continued to stick to his stance that Sivankutty violated protocol by walking out of the event, which, according to Arlekar, was not strictly a state govt function. According to the governor, the distribution of Rajya Puraskar awards to Bharat Scouts and Guides was not a state govt event and the minister had no reason to object to the display of the Bharat Mata portrait. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top Doctor: If You Eat Eggs Every Day, This Is What Happens WellnessGuide Learn more Undo Arlekar had on Thursday stated that there was no question of doing away with Bharat Mata "as we draw our idea of patriotism and nationhood from her." Some Raj Bhavan officials had earlier indicated that the governor had agreed to avoid such portraits at govt functions held at Raj Bhavan. Backing Sivankutty, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said only those who had studied the Constitution could identify violation of constitutional values. He accused Arlekar of trying to convert Raj Bhavan into RSS headquarters. "All those who believe in democracy should oppose this approach by the governor. This is not something CPM alone should protest against," he said after the party's state secretariat meeting on Friday. Hinting at CPM's intent to escalate the controversy, SFI workers took out a march to Raj Bhavan on Friday, carrying banners against the governor. SFI state secretary P S Sanjeev said the governor had no right to use Raj Bhavan to advance his RSS ideology. DYFI also staged a similar protest march to Raj Bhavan on Thursday. Meanwhile, ABVP activists came out in support of the governor, waving black flags at Sivankutty. Agriculture minister P Prasad had earlier refused to attend a function at Raj Bhavan when he was told that he should pay tributes in front of the Bharat Mata portrait before the ceremony.
