Humanitarian charities need greater protection from anti-terror legislation when working in conflict zones, a parliamentary committee reviewing charity law has said today.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Draft Protection of Charities Bill, made up of a dozen MPs and peers, took evidence from the Charity Commission itself and from sector infrastructure bodies, legal experts and academics.

In its report out today it said: “The committee highlights the problems anti-terrorism legislation causes for charities working in conflict zones. The ban on UK charities giving ‘indirect support’ to proscribed organisations anywhere in the world makes it very difficult for them to get access to and provide humanitarian assistance in places such as Syria and areas of Africa controlled by Boko Haram. Charities working in these areas claimed the legislation had a ‘chilling effect’ on their work with victims of conflict, who were often the people in most dire need.”

The committee suggests the government adopt a similar approach to Australia or New Zealand “where exceptions to similar legislation are made where the charity is providing humanitarian relief” and that the Director of Public Prosecutions provides advice to explain when a charity could be prosecuted under terrorism legislation.

Lord Hope, who chaired the committee, said: “Providing help to the victims of those conflicts can mean having to deal with gatekeepers in these areas who may be proscribed organisations. UK charities told us that the risk of having to negotiate with these gatekeepers could prevent their offering help to alleviate suffering in some of the most desperate situations in places such as Syria and Somalia.”