Shelter Now
Shelter Now is an international Christian humanitarian aid organization based in Germany and with operations focused in Afghanistan. Shelter Now began its work in the late 1970s, but did not formally register as an international aid organization until 1983. From 1988, the organization's activities focused on providing aid to Afghan refugees who were displaced during the Soviet–Afghan War, which lasted from 1979 to 1989. The organization's work included developing factories for producing roof-building materials and rebuilding irrigation systems.
In August 2001—just six weeks before the September 11 attacks—Shelter Now garnered international attention when the Taliban arrested two Americans, two Australians, and four Germans working in Afghanistan for the organization, on charges of proselytism. Some 100 days later, on November 15, the aid workers were freed from Taliban custody by Northern Alliance forces and U.S. Special Forces.
History
The activities of Shelter Now have varied over the years and have been affected by such factors as the availability of resources, the attitudes of local populations and governments, and the effects of armed conflict.1990-2000
Shelter Now International was based in Wisconsin until 1990.Shelter Now's aid work in Afghanistan has included contracting with Afghanaid to build homes for local landowners in exchange for their promise not to cultivate opium on their land. A demonstration home constructed by Shelter Now was also used temporarily as an office by Afghanaid fieldworkers in the Achin District in 1990. In addition, Shelter Now was instrumental in the construction of health clinics and schools in the Achin District. In Paktia Province, Shelter Now assisted with the production of concrete beams needed for building construction. In Balkh Province, the organization completed a program for animal vaccinations.
In April 1990, Islamic fundamentalists connected to the "Islamic Youth Movement" launched a campaign against education programs offered by aid organizations from Western countries. Shelter Now, specifically, was targeted because of its Christian nature. On April 26, 1990, the Shelter Now International project office at Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, was attacked. Subsequently, Islamists stole 75 tons of powered milk, stole or destroyed 19 vehicles, and destroyed the Center's vehicle workshop. The Islamists opposed the Westerners' involvement in the region, especially their provision of soap and a bathroom for women, which was perceived as an attempt to westernize them. On June 16, 1990, Shelter Now International's director, Dr. Thor Armstrong, was stopped by armed Islamists while driving in the area of Peshawar with his son as a passenger. The men sprayed Armstrong's car with bullets when he refused to pull over. Neither occupant of the vehicle was injured, though the attack resulted in Armstrong moving away from Peshawar with his family the next day.
Beginning in about 1992, the organization operated four roof-beam factories in Afghanistan, which is useful for low-cost construction.
In 1996, aid workers working for Shelter Now had to flee from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish border due to violence related to the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.
2001-2010
On August 3, 2001, the then-ruling Taliban police raided the Kabul offices of Shelter Now and arrested two Americans, Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry. On or about August 5, the Taliban arrested two German women. The group's German director, Georg Taubmann, was also arrested when he arrived at the women's home. Over the following days, the total number of aid workers arrested in connection with their work for Shelter Now International would reach 24. The captives included four Germans, two Americans, two Australians, and 16 Afghans. The workers were accused of attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, which is a crime in Afghanistan subject to severe punishment. The Taliban accused the aid workers of being in possession of Christian literature, Bibles, and thousands of Christian videos and audio tapes. The Christian aid workers were accused of exposing the Muslim workers to this material. Mohammad Salim Haqqani, the Taliban Deputy Minister for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, emphasized the fact that the group had Bibles in Pashtu and Dari, even though the Christian workers were not proficient in these languages. The situation became dire when, less than six weeks later, the September 11 attacks occurred. Soon after the attacks, it became clear that the Saudi national and leader of the salafi jihadist organization Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, was behind the attacks. Bin Laden had resided in Afghanistan for some time preceding the attacks, where he led various jihadist training camps and oversaw Al-Qaeda's terrorist activity around the world. The Taliban refused demands by the United States that Bin Laden be extradited, citing the nonnegotiable Pashtunwali command that guests be protected from their enemies at all costs. As a result, the continued imprisonment of the 8 western aid workers became a point of serious tension in the conflict that was to follow 9/11. In mid-August, the Taliban looted Shelter Now factories and stole approximately $45,000 worth of equipment, including a Toyota pickup truck, two generators, several cement mixers, and manufacturing tools. On November 15, the eight westerners were freed from Taliban captivity near Ghazni by forces from the Northern Alliance. The workers were then airlifted by U.S. Special Forces helicopters to Islamabad, Pakistan.Shelter Now resumed operations in Afghanistan in the summer of 2002, where it has assisted with reconstruction, clinics, schools, and other forms of humanitarian aid ever since. In January 2006, the organization assisted with the U.N. effort to provide residents of Kashmir and Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province with essential aid to survive the winter after sustaining crippling damage on October 8 from a 7.6-magnitude earthquake. Shelter Now provided tents equipped with stoves, blankets, and mattresses.
2011 forward
Since 2014, Shelter Now has provided support in Iraqi Kurdistan to refugees displaced by the Islamic State. The organization remains active in Afghanistan. The group receives donations from churches in both Europe and the United States.Proselytism
Shelter Now operates in some Muslim countries that prohibit any attempt to convert Muslims to Christianity. Though billed as a humanitarian aid organization, critics have charged that the aid work is a pretext for what is really evangelism work.In August 2001, in the context of the arrest of 24 Shelter Now workers, the organization's spokesperson, Joachim Jaeger, denied this charge, stating:
Around the same time, while the aid workers were still imprisoned, the organization's Afghanistan director, Esteban Witzemann, issued a similar denial:
On the other hand, the organization's director, Georg Taubmann, equivocated in an interview for the magazine Christianity Today in January 2003, stating: