Uprooted by spreading conflict

The number of internally displaced swelled by nearly half a million last year.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Refugees and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) indicate conflict and natural disasters have uprooted roughly one million people in the last 14 years.

The number of internally displaced swelled by nearly half a million last year.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Refugees and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) indicate conflict and natural disasters have uprooted roughly one million people in the last 14 years.

Hafizullah Miakhil, press advisor to the ministry, says some of those who left their villages in Helmand, Nangarhar and Kunduz last year have landed up in Kabul. “Of the some 20 families in Helmand, more than 15,000 in Nangarhar and 20,000 in Kunduz (who fled the fighting), 8,000 families are living in Kabul as refugees,” he says.

The Ministry of Refugees maintains some 45,000 internally displaced families have returned to their homes.

However, people who were interviewed in Kunduz and Nangarhar told Killid their homes were far from secure.

Official Afghan figures for the internally displaced in 1393 (2014) was 135,000. The number swelled by three times the next year. But UNHCR estimates some 335,000 were displaced by war in 2015. The figure does not include areas that are outside the control of the government or the estimated 65,000 people who were displaced in the fighting in Kunduz.

Nader Farhad, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency told Killid that between 2003 and 2005 the number of internally displaced was relatively small compared to 2007 and the years after when their numbers increased as the political situation deteriorated. “Last year was the worst as many people were displaced and it made us concerned,” says Farhad.

Rehabilitation

While the Ministry of Refugees has no money to find shelters and livelihoods for the internally displaced, it has been facilitating their “introduction” to Afghan and international humanitarian agencies. According to the ministry’s press advisor Miakhil, a committee has been set up to screen and identify the internally displaced, and the lists are handed over to humanitarian organisations. UNHCR says it has distributed some 39,000 packages of relief materials in 2015 that included tents, carpets and utensils. UNHCR’s Farhad says food has also been provided through WFP (the UN’s World Food Programme). In addition, under the winter relief programme, 16,000 families were given 100 USD each mostly in the east and northeast of the country where people have fled the fighting.

Some families in Nangarhar and Kunduz complained to Killid that received no assistance. According to them, only those who have influence are able to get on the list of internally displaced people.

Two such displaced, Sayed Gul and Askar Khan from Achin and Koat districts respectively in Nangarhar province, told provincial authorities that while they had submitted petitions for help, no one has bothered to visit them to verify why they left their houses.

Sayed Gul said he had left the village because he feared he would die, but his life as a refugee was still tough. “There was fear of death (in the village) and here we are facing hunger, thirst and loans. No one has helped us. Tribal leaders prepared the lists, but there was fraud and my name was removed from the list,” he says.

Askar Khan is at the refugee department with a petition. A resident of Sayed Ahmad Khil village in Koat district, he says he has lost all his property in the village, and is in the city along with 20 members of his family. “I have been coming here for the past one month, but neither is my voice heard nor have I been assisted. ISIS looted my home, and now we don’t have anything to eat in the morning or evening,” he says.

Lost schooling

Askar Khan who says his children used to study in the village are now deprived of education. “We cannot get the sae parcha (transfer certificate) and as a result their lessons have stopped,” he adds.

Sayed Gul also faces a similar problem. His children have not gone to school “for a long time”, he says. “When we left the village, we left the school; we left everything. May God help the children,” he says sadly.

Officials in the Ministry of Education say war has cast a shadow on progress in the spread of education in Afghanistan. Mujib Mehrdad, the ministry’s spokesperson, says some 700 schools have closed due to war since last year. He however claims that children who want to study have the option of joining “nearby” schools.

Meanwhile, the disabled in Afghanistan continue to be an ignored constituency. There are no special schools for them. “We don’t have the opportunity or policy directive from the government to investigate and act on the situation,” says spokesperson Mehrdad.

Insecurity has posed a big challenge to schooling. Some 50 percent of schools in Afghanistan have no buildings and students study in the open.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) points out that joint operations are being conducted in provinces like Nangarhar, Kunduz, Helmand, Baghlan, Kandahar and Badakhshan to flush out opposition fighters. Najib Danesh, the deputy spokesperson, says care is being taken to ensure the civilian population is not displaced. Also normalcy is quickly restored in areas that are cleared to enable people to return home. “We try to clear the areas soon so the displaced people can return to their own areas. But operations can take time since we have to ensure that all threats have been eliminated,” says Danesh.