Winter aggravates IDP hardships

Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in formal and informal camps, abandoned buildings and other locations in the south, west and north of Afghanistan face the threat of contracting winter diseases and are struggling to keep warm, affected people and officials said.

Pneumonia and acute respiratory infections are two major diseases, which have killed at least seven children, according to several IDPs in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, where thousands of people have been displaced by armed conflict.

Reports of several child deaths from winter diseases also came from Herat, Balkh and Kunduz provinces where thousands of IDPs, mostly affected by communal tensions, drought and other natural disasters, have sought refuge over the past few years.

Standing outside a mud-hut in the outskirts of Lashkargah near several shivering, barefoot children, a displaced man, Mohammad Ibrahim, moaned over the death of his 3-year-old daughter, saying: "She died because of the cold weather."

A woman in Shaydayee camp, about 10km south of Herat city, said her father-in-law died because of respiratory problems caused by the cold.

"No outbreak so far"

Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is currently verifying reports of pneumonia deaths in some parts of the country, but has not confirmed a single case to date.

"There is no outbreak of any disease so far," said Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the MoPH in Kabul.

"The Ministry of Public Health and its partner NGOs [non-governmental organisations] will provide a prompt and effective response should an emergency or outbreak occur," he said.

On 8 January, Afghanistan declared a public health "alert" after heavy snowfall, avalanches and flooding caused human losses in a number of provinces and raised concerns about a possible outbreak of winter diseases.

How many IDPs are there?

Due to access restrictions and lack of resources in provincial bodies, neither the government nor aid agencies know exactly how many people are displaced throughout the country.

Photo: Abdullah Shaheen/IRIN

While there are no reliable figures on the exact number of displaced people in Afghanistan, some experts estimate that there are up to 300,000

At least 44,000 people were displaced as a result of intense fighting mostly in southern provinces in the first half of 2007, the UN estimated.

More than 120,000 other IDPs known as "protracted" and/or "long-term" displaced persons have also been living at a number of locations across the country since late 2001, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said.

Some experts, including Khalid Koser of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, estimate that currently there are about 300,000 IDPs in different parts of Afghanistan.

After assisting in the return of about 900,000 IDPs to their original areas in 2002-2005, UN agencies stopped providing relief items to several IDP camps in March 2006.

However, officials in Helmand, Kandahar and Herat provinces say the situation of protracted IDPs - who still live in the old camps - has worsened with the arrival of new conflict-affected IDPs, and that their humanitarian aid needs have gradually increased.

"Both old and new IDPs are widely vulnerable and are in need of assistance particularly during winter months," said Abdul Sattar Mazhari, head of the provincial refugees and repatriation department in Helmand Province.

Avoiding aid dependency

The decision to restart regular relief operations for IDPs has been complicated by at least two factors: the desire on the part of aid agencies to avoid aid dependency, and the lack of resources to sustain effective relief efforts.

"Some IDPs have maintained unrealistic expectations of the government and aid agencies, and have remained in displacement only to receive free aid," Shir Mohammad Etibari, Afghanistan's minister of refugees and repatriation, told IRIN without specifying the exact number of such IDPs.

Etibari agreed, however, there were many vulnerable IDPs who deserve meaningful humanitarian assistance. "Our government does not have the capacity and means to launch and sustain a comprehensive aid programme even for vulnerable IDPs," he said.

sms/ad/at/cb