Dear Supporter,

Support Oxfam's calls for a pause in the bombing - write to Tony Blair

Right now in Afghanistan 2.5 million people face a desperate lack of food.
You can help. Oxfam needs your support, to persuade the Prime Minister to
use his influence to ensure there is a pause in the bombing of Afghanistan
to let sufficient food aid into the country.

I wrote to you recently to ask you to write to Tony Blair. If you have taken
this Urgent Action already, thank you. Your support is vital.

If you have not yet taken action, please will you take a few minutes to
write? (Our experience has proved that letters are much more effective than
e-mails.) The situation is critical. With winter fast approaching, the
opportunity to get enough aid through will soon be gone. We don't have much
time.

I would like to share with you part of a very moving e-mail sent to us by
Nick Roseveare, our humanitarian co-ordinator based in Islamabad. He said:
"The reason we need a humanitarian pause is in order to get food to all the
hungry people in Afghanistan, and especially to those who will be cut off by
the winter. What does this mean for those people? Someone who does not get
their food ration for six months does not necessarily die. The human spirit
will always struggle for life. People will beg and borrow what they can,
they will sell the roof beams from their houses, all their possessions, even
their children. After that they may roam farther and farther afield to find
wild foods.to dig up plants to eat the roots..boiling up grasses and eating
animal fodder.

"Hair starts to fall out..skin lesions become easily infected and become
sores. This stage may last until food arrives - which their bodies may no
longer be able to digest - or until the person dies. At any stage in this
process, people are more vulnerable to disease and infections, especially in
the Afghan winter. Of course the first to die will be the children and the
elderly.

"The question for Oxfam is not just, how many people will die?, but rather,
how many people should have to be forced to endure this kind of unspeakable
suffering?"

The need to reach people by mid-November cannot be overstated. A situation
is rapidly developing in which large numbers could die. A pause in the
bombing is necessary because since air attacks started truckers have been
afraid to load and deliver vitally-needed food supplies. In one incident a
missile struck near a UN depot in Kabul where food was being loaded to go to
an Oxfam programme.

The Afghans are an extremely resilient people who will do all that it takes
to survive winter. But if nothing changes and food is not delivered, there
will be unspeakable suffering this winter. Please write to Tony Blair today.

Even though he has said there will be no pause we believe he should
reconsider. This is a major crisis. Aid agencies have run out of food to
deliver in Afghanistan, the borders are closed, we can't reach our staff,
and time has almost run out. That's why we're calling for a pause. If there
is no pause in the bombing, tens of thousands of people will probably die
and there will be unimaginable suffering for millions more.

In your own words, mention the massive scale of suffering and the needs of
ordinary Afghans caught up in the crisis, and ask the Prime Minister to
reconsider his position and use his influence to call for:

á A pause in bombing and other military action by all parties to allow
humanitarian access to Afghanistan
Guarantees from all parties that they will not target or impede aid convoys
or aid efforts
Whatever else he can do to make sure that food aid gets through to people in
need in Afghanistan, before mid-November, when winter will make overland
access impossible

Time is running out. Please write to Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, 10 Downing
Street, London SW1A 2AA. If enough people write to him - before Friday 26
October - the Prime Minister could be persuaded to take action which will
stave off terrible suffering and loss of life.

Please help to prevent an emergency becoming a disaster.

Thank you

Barbara Stocking
Director of Oxfam

P.S. Thank you once again if you have written already. One more small
favour: when you have written, could you please let us know, by emailing
actnow@oxfam.org.uk (please leave the body of the email blank). If you have
already sent the card, there's no need to let us know again.You can find
more information on the crisis and our response at: www.oxfam.org.uk/pause
If you have any questions or require further information please email us at
oxfam@oxfam.org.uk and write 'Afghanistan letter action' in the subject box.
Thank you.

Oxfam works with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering.
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Registered office 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ. Registered Charity No.
202918. Tel. (01865) 312610
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