Displaced persons streaming into Herat, Afghanistan

In a six day period from 11 to 16 December, just under 800 displaced families, comprised of over 4,600 people, arrived in a camp for displaced persons outside Herat City in western Afghanistan. Of the six existing IDP camps in Herat, 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. With an emergency food aid programme to assist families in their places of origin in Ghor, Badghis, Herat, and Farah Provinces, arrivals to Herat slowed.

Arrivals have again picked up, with the result that the Herat camps now house over 11,000 families, or 68,000 people. What is not known is how many people in western Afghanistan have gravitated into Herat City (not the camps) or crossed the border.

Due to insufficient response to funding requests, conditions in the camps are poor. In the newest and largest camp, Maslagh, new arrivals had to sleep out in the open air despite freezing temperatures. With the arrival of some tents provided by ICRC and UNOCHA, people have been accommodated by squeezing three families into one tent. At present, there is a shortfall of at least 2,500 shelters. While some non-food items are in stock, there are shortfalls of all non-food items, including blankets, tents, quilts, and other supplies. Most of the families in the camps have few assets and therefore are in need of both food and non-food items. Complicating matters further, the World Food Programme (WFP) will run out of food in April 2001 if further pledges are not forthcoming.

It is expected that displaced persons may continue to arrive in Herat as long as weather conditions permit.

Because of displacement to Herat, the city's labour market has declined dramatically. As recently as seven months ago, Herat was the most affluent city in the country with the strongest labour markets. Now, however, Herat is unable to keep pace with the increasing strain being placed on it by a desperate rural population. Newcomers to the labour market are, by far, the highest in the country (77%), availability of labour lowest (36%), and the fall in 'real' value of earning from last year the largest (49%).

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. Moreover, even assisted areas have received aid to carry them only through early spring. In parts of Badghis Province, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) has been monitoring malnutrition rates among children under five since June and have noted that combined moderate and severe malnutrition rates are 23%.

For further information, please call Stephanie Bunker, Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, 0320 261325