wfn.org | Pakistan is Seeing More, Not Fewer Afghan Refugees, CWS Reports

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1/25/02 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Church World Service News Release
Pakistan is Seeing More, Not Fewer Afghan Refugees, CWS Reports
January 25, 2002, NEW YORK CITY - Despite the fall of the Taliban and the
institution of a new interim government in Afghanistan, many Afghan refugees
are not returning home from Pakistan, reports Church World Service, which is
providing emergency aid among the refugees.
In addition, more, not fewer, refugees from Afghanistan are crossing the
border into Pakistan, according to CWS.  Key factors: Afghanistan continues
to suffer widespread insecurity, and its demolished infrastructure has yet
to be rebuilt.
The situation remains fluid and tense, said Marvin Parvez, director of the
CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan program.  The border areas are showing signs of
new strain because of an increase in refugees.  The needs of people in the
camps along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border are increasing.
CWS staff described how, earlier this month, when the border near Quetta was
reopened after a four-day closure, distressed and tired refugees without
sufficient food, water, warm clothes and shelter started to pour into the
camps.
Killi Faiso Camp registered 112 families on January 8, Mr. Parvez said.
The following day, 2,500 refugees were waiting across the barbed wire for
registration not knowing whether they would be registered or not.  Most of
these refugees belong to the Pushtoon community.  Currently Killi Faiso
accommodates 780 tents.
Landi Karez Camp was established recently and is serving as a permanent
camp, he continued.  The camp has 14 blocks.  On January 8, 62 families
were moved to Landi Karez and on January 9, 202 families were transferred to
Landi Karez.  Roghani Camp, with a population of about 18,000 refugees, is
full.
Based on the current statistics, Mr. Parvez said, CWS believes that the
refugee influx is not decreasing and that many refugees are not returning to
Afghanistan.
Church World Service is providing emergency food and shelter both to Afghan
refugees in Pakistan and among Afghans displaced by war and drought within
Afghanistan - so far, without interception by local warlords, although
insecurity is a concern.
To date, assistance has included 9,000 Family Shelter Kits for some 63,000
uprooted Afghans in central and northern Afghanistan and in camps in
Pakistan.
Some 400 Afghan refugee women near Quetta are earning a small income as part
of a Church World Service project.  They are making 60,000 quilts, 20,000 of
which have been used in CWS Family Shelter Kits.  The other 40,000 are being
purchased by the UNHCR and UNICEF for use in their emergency programs in
Afghanistan.  The project has had a positive emotional impact among the
refugee women, and also has boosted the local market for cotton and cloth in
Quetta, Mr. Parvez reported.
CWS also has provided food parcels - beans, rice, wheat, cooking oil, sugar
and tea - to affected families.  In all, CWS has provided assistance to some
17,000 families.
Support has come from denominational emergency response funds and public
donations.  American Airlines donated blankets and other material resources
and presented them to CWS in Quetta last month. The gifts were distributed
to 464 refugee families as part of the Eid celebrations, which mark the end
of Ramadan.
All of us in the humanitarian response community agree that widespread
famine in Afghanistan was averted thanks to the World Food Programmes
successful delivery of a large quantity of wheat by the end of December,
said Donna Derr, CWS Associate Director for International Emergency
Response.
But supplemental food was, is and will continue to be critical, especially
for children, she said.  Even if all the WFP wheat gets distributed, it
wont meet all the nutritional needs of children.
Another concern is that in southern Afghanistan, especially around Kandahar
and Spin Boldak, humanitarian work is virtually impossible because of
insecurity there. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) no longer have access
to aid and subsequently move over to Pakistan, where CWS is working with
UNHCR in two camps.
Nonetheless, Mr. Parvez points to new signs of optimism - if no other
reason, changes in outlook. "It is still a huge task to rebuild Afghanistan,
but you can see hope in people's faces, enthusiasm and excitement, he said
after a recent visit to Kabul.
While immediate relief assistance is continuing and will for some time, CWS
is also looking toward the rehabilitation phase. Toward that end, CWS
Afghanistan/Pakistan has opened an office in Kabul, which should be fully
staffed by spring. The office will serve as the focal point for CWS project
monitoring of work in Afghanistan.
CWS Emergency Response Program Director Rick Augsburger and Ms. Derr will be
in Pakistan Jan. 26-Feb. 4 to begin long-term program planning with CWS
Pakistan/Afghanistan staff for CWS rehabilitation and recovery initiatives
in Afghanistan.  Possible initiatives being considered are housing
reconstruction, agricultural, health and education inputs.
Church World Service is the global humanitarian response ministry of the
National Council of Churches and its 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican
member communions.
To help, direct funds to:
Church World Service, Pakistan/Afghanistan Emergency, 28606 Phillips St.,
Elkhart, IN 46514. More information/credit card donations to 1-800-297-1516
or online at www.churchworldservice.org <http://www.churchworldservice.org>
                                                                            
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