Tension continues to mount in South Asia - particularly in Afghanistan
- in the wake of the terror attacks last week in the U.S. In Afghanistan
large numbers of civilians are reported to be leaving towns and cities
such as Kabul and Khandahar.
Some people are heading for international borders but so far most
appear to be looking for shelter with families and friends in the
countryside. Yesterday, the UNHCR reported that 15.000 Afghans had
crossed into Pakistan despite the fact that the border is officially
closed for refugees.
On this background, ACT members are preparing to assist large numbers
of Afghans - be that in new refugee camps in, for instance, Pakistan
or inside Afghanistan. Preparations include identifying and stockpiling
crucial relief items such as food and water.
ACT members working in Afghanistan includes Church World Service,
Christian Aid and Norwegian Church Aid. These three agencies are currently
coordinating their plans and relief response as the situation develops.
While expatriate staff have left Afghanistan, national staff continue
supporting some of the nearly five million people considered particularly
vulnerable already before the onset of this acute crisis. Means and
ways of continuing and strengthening activities inside Afghanistan
are being pursued.
Afghanistan, already caught in a spiral of war and drought, had almost
one million internally displaced people living in appalling conditions
before this latest crisis. Three years of drought and food shortages
have now combined with fear of war to send food and fuel prices rocketing.
Developments which will only add to the plight of vulnerable groups
such as children, elderly and female headed families.
