Major appeal planned for Afghanistan refugees

Social justice news
November 2001

Major appeal planned for Afghanistan refugees
Amnesty International calls for U.S. restraint
Renewed Mideast violence called intolerable
Refugee camp offers glimpse of growing crisis
Bishops' meeting to look at Africa and aftermath of September 11
Earth Summit's declaration of interdependence

Major appeal planned for Afghanistan refugees
Catholic Relief Services plans to launch a major appeal this month on behalf of refugees dislocated by war and political turmoil in Afghanistan. The agency hopes to raise as much as $50 million from the United States to bankroll a response to what is emerging as the greatest humanitarian disaster of this new century, a disaster, ironically, in part triggered by a U.S. effort to flush out al Qaeda network terrorists through a bombing campaign against Afghanistan’s Taliban administrators.

CRS estimates that as many as 110,000 Afghans have reached the Pakistan border in an effort to escape U.S. attacks or because of general fears of a complete breakdown of civic order in Afghanistan. The new refugees join as many as 3.6 million Afghans who are already refugees in neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran and the 1 million people internally displaced in Afghanistan itself after two decades of nearly continuous internal strife.

Few refugees have been allowed to pass through Pakistan’s official border crossings, though many are crossing in more obscure locations. Pakistan authorities say the border will remain closed although they will allow those they deem “most vulnerable” to cross the border to find whatever solace is offered in the already difficult conditions maintained at existing refugee camps in Pakistan. As winter approaches, aid workers fear a larger catastrophe because of hunger and all-out war awaits citizens of perhaps the most beleaguered nation on the planet.

"I do not think the world has yet put a face on the Afghan refugee crisis," said Luc Picard, a CRS Pakistan Country Representative. "During my times in some of the refugee camps here, I see thousands of faces, and to simply say they need our help is a dangerous understatement."

"People literally have nothing when they cross over," says Cheri Herrboldt, CRS's South Asian Analyst, describing conditions in Pakistan. Herrboldt says CRS plans to continue its work in two refugee camps in Pakistan, broaden its support efforts to people internally dislocated in Afghanistan itself, and open a new office in Quetta, Pakistan in addition to the two offices it already maintains in Islamabad and Peshawar. Opening the Quetta office poses especially daunting challanges because Western relief agencies there have recently been threatened by Pakistani citizens and Afghan refugees angered by the American bombing assault against the Taliban and civilian casualties that have resulted from it.

Herrboldt says the agnecy hopes in the coming weeks to reach vulnerable people directly in Afghanistan. Though no Western aid workers will cross the border, she says CRS will provide relief materials in Afghanistan through its regional partners.

UNHCR officials say refugees they've interviewed speak of increasing insecurity in their areas of origin and say they left because of fears of heavy bombing, possible retaliation by Northern Alliance forces, looting, and conscription. They continue to tell of a breakdown of law and order. Those from cities are particularly concerned about the danger of inter-factional fighting in residential areas. Many families have become separated during their escape. Some families had to leave behind weak or disabled family members who could not manage the long walk to Pakistan. Others were left behind because they could not afford to pay for the journey and entry into Pakistan. Many reported family members stranded at the Afghanistan border.

The arrival of winter in Afghanistan brings a host of challenges to the Afghans and to the organizations trying to help them. Although the people of the region are used to harsh winters, those without shelter will be fully exposed to snow, blizzards and temperatures dipping as low as minus-40 degrees. And Afghanistan’s rugged terrain will not make the transportation of relief or other goods particularly easy for relief agencies.

The UN estimates that 5.5 million Afghans were already partially or fully dependent on food assistance for survival, prior to September 11. An additional 2 million people could be added to this number if they have no food over the winter, bringing the total number of vulnerable people inside Afghanistan to 7.5 million.

CRS has so far allocated a total of $2.35 million to provide for relief materials, including water and sanitation facilities for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. CRS continues to plan with local Afghan partners for distributions of food and non-food items inside of Afghanistan and has begun with an initial distribution of blankets for 100,000 internally displaced people inside Afghanistan. In collaboration with a local partner, CRS is also preparing to provide direct assistance to the people of Afghanistan in four provinces surrounding Kabul.

Afghanistan, ravaged by more than two decades of war, is one of the world's poorest countries, annual average income in a good year is barely $200. Kabul, the capital, lies largely in ruins, destroyed by an earlier civil war. The estimated 1 million people who remain in Kabul are mostly those too poor to flee.—Kevin Clarke

For more information:
Crisis in Afghanistan
Catholic Relief Services

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