Displaced persons die of cold in Herat, Afghanistan

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan),31 January 2001-- Over 110 displaced persons in camps in Herat, Afghanistan, died due to extreme cold on the night of 29/30 January. Due to a cold snap, temperatures in the western provincial capital city fell to as low as -25 (centigrade) during the night. By mid -morning the temperature had risen to only -16. With vehicle engines frozen, movement of aid workers to the camps has been impeded. It is believed that the main victims of the extreme temperatures were children, the elderly, and women.
Currently, there are approximately 80,000 displaced persons in six camps outside Herat City, of which five are already full. Families started leaving their homes in western Afghanistan as early as June this year due to severe drought, which resulted in crop losses averaging 75%, and 50% reduction in livestock assets. By early October, 2,000 families had arrived in the city.

Since mid-December displaced persons have been arriving in the city at the rate of between 300 to 500 each day.

Due to insufficient response to funding requests, conditions in the camps are poor. A programme to construct one room mud shelters is proceeding as quickly as possible, with the financial support of ECHO. However, the shelter shortfall is so severe that there are still some 5,000 families sharing 1,700 one-family tents. There are critical shortfalls of all non-food items, including blankets, tents, quilts, and other supplies.

Lack of proper shelter, blankets, and fuel can be assumed to have contributed to the high death rate in the camps.

The drought currently affecting Afghanistan has put at risk the lives of approximately 50,000 families (300,000 people) in the western region. The area of distress is now starting to enlarge and reports are being received of displaced persons moving to other areas of western Afghanistan in search of assistance.

Since summer 2000, over 500,000 Afghans have left their homes, and most of these families are internally displaced inside Afghanistan. In view of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, coupled with severe shortages of non-food items for the displaced, Erick de Mul, United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, on January 11 called an emergency meeting of donors to Afghanistan. He asked them to respond immediately to the 2001 Appeal for Afghanistan, and specifically to provide USD 3.5 million for non-food items including shelter, blankets, clothing, USD 3.2 million in cash to complement food for work programmes, and USD 600,000 for seeds. So far, only $200,000 of the 3.5 million requested for non-food items has been pledged.

It is now feared that displacement will continue into various areas of the country, and across international borders, for at least the next several months, increasing the total numbers of displaced, and resulting in yet more requirements for both food and non-food items. These needs will be compounded in view of the dismal economic situation in many urban areas, the non-availability of wage labour, and the severe decline in wage labour rates far below subsistence levels.

For further information, please call Stephanie Bunker, Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, 92 51 2211451 x 415; 0320 261325