Help may come too late

Peshawar, October 6, 2001

ACT member, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), is gearing up to assist a new wave of refugees expected to flee to Pakistan should military attacks on Afghanistan happen. Plans are also under way to help displaced people inside Afghanistan who fled their homes in the cities in fear of military action against their country, after the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11.

"Fear and uncertainty prevail in Afghanistan. New rumours about possible bombardments spread everyday", the director of an Afghan relief organization that is a local partner of NCA, pointed out in a co-ordination meeting in the northern Pakistani town of Peshawar. The UNHCR has now selected six sites close to the border where camps are being set up in preparation of a possible influx of new refugees.

People in Afghanistan are suffering and "NCA & partners" are planning meetings with vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, rather than waiting for them to cross the border. "If we wait for the future, it may be too late for the people in Afghanistan", a representative of a local partner said. Camps are already springing up spontaneously in rural areas and no one is there to help the people.

NCA can work in Afghanistan through its nine local Afghan NGOs who are coordinating their relief work within the network, "NCA & partners". Information about the situation from inside Afghanistan is alarming. The latest news to reach NCA from Afghanistan is that more than 600 people have already starved to death a village near Darae Souf in the northern part of the country. The information could not be confirmed, but people familiar with the situation in that area believe it to be likely. Food shortages across Afghanistan are so severe that people truly fear starvation, NCA partners point out.

After the September 11 attacks in the US, thousands of people fled from the cities to villages in fear of being bombed and the resulting chaos. Before the attacks, there were already about 1 million IDPs living in the country after a three-year severe drought and a civil war that has lasted at least 20 years.

Thousands have fled Kabul for the central region of Afghanistan, an area known for its extremely cold temperatures at night. Blankets are desperately needed. Food, water and shelter are also in short supply and needed urgently by the IDPs. The villagers have already suffered from the long drought. Those who left the cities made a living from daily labour, but there is no work for them in the villages. Many have returned to the cities to seek work in view of the relative calm, leaving their families in the villages.

"The resources are there. It’s only a question now of getting them to people in need", an NCA staff member points out. NCA water and sanitation equipment that include water tanks, pumps and purification units, will arrive this week in Peshawar in Pakistan. The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is open to staff of the World Food Program, as well as to traders. A crucial factor is time. With winter barely a month away, people in rural areas will have to be supplied with food that will last them at least three months. Otherwise people will be forced to keep moving in search of food.

A major problem for the NCA network is getting information across the border, as the Taliban has cut all communication lines out of the country. In spite of these problems, NCA partners have kept their programs active. These include ACT projects to help stave off further displacement of people. 1200 farmers in the district of Kabul received seed, as part of a program to combat drought. Six thousand families returning to their village in Mazar-i-Sharif in Kabul received food. "The situation is very tense. And although everything is difficult, we can still work", an aid worker said.

Text by Rainer Lang (ACT International)