Aid workers operating under the watchful eye of an oppressive government are forced to keep their heads down. That is why challenging humanitarian work is usually carried out in silence. But a string of high-profile dustups between aid groups and governments in Zimbabwe, China, and Burma has put an uncomfortably hot spotlight on these countries’ leaders.

On May 30, Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF government, led by Robert Mugabe, suspended field operations of all international NGOs and humanitarian groups.

CARE Canada is an aid-and-development organization presently operating in more than 60 countries. According to a media release, its operations in Zimbabwe were suspended pending an investigation into allegations of political activism.

Speaking from Ottawa, CARE’s communications manager, Kieran Green, told the Georgia Straight that under Zimbabwean law, all NGOs operating in the country must register under legislation that forbids political activism. The government claimed that those terms were breached.

“Our people that operate out in the field have had to be pulled back into our offices in the cities and the medium-sized towns,” Green said.

Negotiations between CARE and the Zimbabwean government are ongoing, he continued, and he noted that at this time, the government has not made a specific claim of political activity.

Green is optimistic that normal aid operations will resume soon. “We have been working in Zimbabwe since 1992, and I think we have a very good relationship with the government there,” he said.

Meanwhile, China continues to struggle with the aftermath of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan province on May 12.

Although China’s Communist government has accepted offers of foreign aid, certain charities have reported that getting into Sichuan was not easy.

The Tzu Chi Foundation was inside Sichuan three days after the quake hit. Eric Hsu, executive secretary for the charity’s Canadian wing, said that his group has handed out tens of thousands of blankets and warm meals and continues to have a team of doctors active in areas worst-hit by the quake.

But Hsu admitted that it is unlikely the Tzu Chi Foundation would have gotten into Sichuan so quickly if it were not a registered charity in China.

“We all know that in China, if you are not a registered charity foundation, basically, you cannot do anything,” Hsu said in a telephone interview. “Because if the government does not know the purpose of your charity group or does not know your people, they will not allow you to do anything in China.”

Rose Charities is a volunteer organization based out of Vancouver. It establishes aid operations in developing countries such as Sri Lanka.

Josephine de Freitas, a director on the board, told the Straight that setting up a new operation is often a major challenge that requires staff, funding, and local connections. The task is made even more difficult by bureaucratic red tape.

“In a country that is quite bureaucratic and authoritarian like China and Burma, it is much harder to get the permission to go,” she said. “Everyone is afraid to make the decision.”

To get into Sichuan, de Freitas said, Rose Charities partnered with a Japanese NGO called ANDA that had already established ties with the Chinese government.

“It’s not that people were not being cooperative,” de Freitas said, “they just work much more slowly.”

When a cyclone tore through the south of Burma (also known as Myanmar) in May, the country’s ruling military junta was hammered for refusing to allow foreign nationals and nongovernmental organizations into the country to help with the relief effort.

De Freitas told the Straight that Rose Charities was in Burma after the cyclone but was forced to enter the country “through the back door”.

The group was given permission by the Burmese government to operate under ANDA, which runs clinics in Burma, but was not allowed to tell anybody who they were working with. De Freitas said that this really hampered funding efforts for the project.

“In all these countries, it is a matter of keeping your head down, keeping politically nonbiased, and being shown not to take one political side or another,” she said. “Because we work in war zones.”