Afghanistan: World's fastest growing crisis of internal displacement

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan), 24 April 2001-- "Afghanistan is the fastest growing crisis of internal displacement in the world today," said Dennis McNamara today at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. McNamara, Special Co-ordinator for Internally Displaced Persons for the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, arrived yesterday from an assessment mission to various locations inside Afghanistan. The seven member inter-agency team, which travelled to Kabul, Herat, and Mazar, was comprised of staff of OCHA, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, FAO and CARE.
"Population movements among Afghans are at crisis levels," McNamara said. He noted that 140,000 displaced are now in Herat, with 100,000 people in Maslakh camp alone. On average, three hundred families--over 1,500 people--are entering Herat every day in need of help. Due to lack of shelter, families are sleeping in the open. There are currently 700,000 to 800,000 Afghans who have left their homes due to conflict, drought, or both, with half of a million of them still inside Afghanistan.

"Our biggest concern right now," he said, "is the impoverished population divested of most basic assets, who remain in their villages and cannot even meet transport costs to get out."

In Mazar, he said that the vulnerable population was in "acute distress and living under deplorable conditions, with few worldly possessions." Because the displaced are spread throughout every province of northern Afghanistan, their dispersion makes rendering adequate assistance extremely difficult.

McNamara called for a "multi-layered response," including increased aid across the board--shelter, health, food, sanitation, and water. He said that the assistance community immediately needs 20,000 new shelters for the displaced, adding that the current appeal for $254 million would have to be revised upward immediately and would require urgent action by donors. Given that 85% of Afghanistan's population lives in rural areas, he underscored the need for support to the agricultural sector and said that seven million dollars would be required for seed and other inputs. McNamara noted the urgent need for both the United Nations and NGOs to strengthen their presence inside the country to be able to cope with the escalating crisis.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, 92 51 2211451; 92 320 4261325.