January 25, 2008

 

Overview

 

More than 20 people, including civilians, killed in violence across Afghanistan

More than 20 people, including civilians, were killed in separate security incidents across Afghanistan this week. Four Afghan soldiers working with the US-led coalition forces were killed Friday (January 25) in the southeastern province of Khost when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Also Friday, one coalition soldier was killed in a clash with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. Ground troops called in airstrikes during the clash in Kunar's Nari district. An unknown number of suspected militants were reportedly killed in the operation that also left three coalition soldiers, one Afghan interpreter and a local security official wounded. The nationalities of the dead and wounded coalition soldiers have not been released. At least 11 people, including nine Afghan policemen and two civilians, were reportedly killed in a US-led ground and air assault aimed at Taliban insurgents in the southeastern province of Ghazni on Thursday (January 24). One British soldier was killed and five others wounded Sunday (January 20) when their vehicle was struck by a landmine some two miles northeast of Musa Qala in Helmand province. Five civilians were killed and three others wounded in Panjwayi district in southern Kandahar province of Saturday (January 19) when their taxi ran over a landmine.

 

UN-Afghan appeal seeks US$80 million to avert food insecurity

The UN and the Afghan government are seeking US$80 million to fund some 89,000 metric tons of food to assist nearly 2.55 million Afghans affected by rising commodity prices, especially wheat flour -- a staple food. The appeal, "Humanitarian Consequences of the Rise in Food Prices," launched Thursday jointly by the Government of Afghanistan, the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), aims to assist some 425,000 extremely poor families in the country's rural and urban areas over the next five months who otherwise would not be able to meet their food needs. It will also provide additional nutritional supplements to those most at risk and help those who are already suffering from severe malnutrition. Speaking to donor representatives and reporters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's acting special representative to Afghanistan Bo Asplund said, "This joint appeal is on behalf of 425,000 extremely poor Afghan families, who otherwise will be unable to meet their most basic need -- that of food -- especially during the current harsh winter months. I urge all donors to respond generously to the appeal, to ensure that these families can feed themselves." According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food prices, particularly those of wheat and wheat flour, have increased by 60-80 percent across Afghanistan in the past few months, pushing some 1.41 million people in rural areas and 1.14 million people in urban areas into high-risk food insecurity. US$77 million of the requested funds will be used by WFP to procure wheat, pulses, cooking oil and iodized salt that will be distributed among the targeted population under food-for-work and similar schemes implemented through government and non-government organizations and agencies.

 

Afghan cold wave death toll climbs to over 320

The death toll from the recent cold wave across Afghanistan has reportedly climbed to over 320 people. Citing figures from Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Tuesday (January 22) that remote mountainous regions of the western provinces of Herat, Farah, Badghis and Nimroz along the border with Iran have been the hardest-hit. According to NDMA, more than 83,000 farm animals have died over the past month due to freezing temperatures. The snowfalls have been the heaviest in 15 years with some areas under up to two meters (seven feet) of snow. Due to heavy snowfalls many roads have been cut off from major cities and supply hubs. NDMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and other national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies are working to get relief supplies to affected communities. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) working in support of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and UNAMA delivered one and a half tons of food and non-food items to Aft Chan village in Ghoryan district in Herat on Saturday. Nearly seven tons of food and non-food items were also air dropped to three other villages in Ghoryan.

.

UN, press watchdog groups condemn death sentence for Afghan journalist

The UN and international press freedom groups condemned the death sentencing of an Afghan journalist by a provincial court earlier Tuesday, calling it a violation of freedom of expression. Reporters Without Borders and the National Journalists Union of Afghanistan called upon President Hamid Karzai to intervene to overturn the ruling handed down by a court in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to a young Afghan journalist for alleged blasphemy. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s acting special representative to Afghanistan Bo Asplund also urged the Afghan government on Friday to review the sentencing. Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, a reporter and a journalism student at Balkh University, was arrested in October for distributing material from the Internet found to be blasphemous by an Afghan court. Kambakhsh, who did not author the document but merely downloaded it off the Internet and shared it with his fellow students at Balkh University, was charged with distributing anti-Islamic propaganda. According to the prosecutors, the document contained comments on verses in the Quran (also spelled Koran) relating to women's role that they deemed offensive to Islam. The court decision was handed down on Tuesday by a panel of three judges during a trial behind closed doors. Kambakhsh reportedly did not have a lawyer to defend him. The judges cited Article 130 of the Afghan constitution, which calls for "judicial discretion" when there is no provision in the constitution or other national laws to deal with a certain matter.

Movement

 

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends the Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement.

 

Pakistan is to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country. UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign. (UNHCR, Aug-10)

 

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran. Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

 

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007. Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country. Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country.

 

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension. Pakistani authorities said voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended in April, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR.

 

2006: UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006. The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan closed two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

 

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

 

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

 

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics.

 

 

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

 

 

Central Region

 

 

East Central Region