wfn.org | Lutherans Face Challenge in Assisting Afghanistan Refugees

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 12, 2001

LUTHERANS FACE CHALLENGE IN ASSISTING AFGHANISTAN REFUGEES
01-253-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) and its partner humanitarian relief organizations face challenges
in providing aid to thousands of residents of Afghanistan.  The fear of
U.S. military attacks on the country is causing people to become
internally displaced or refuged near the border in neighboring Iran and
Pakistan.
     Eight "relief trucks are being held up" at border posts between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Belletech Deressa, director for
international development and disaster response, ELCA Division for
Global Mission.
     The trucks belong to members of Action by Churches Together (ACT)
and Church World Service (CWS).  ACT is a worldwide network of churches
and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency
response.  It is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.  ACT utilizes the
resources of LWF and WCC.  The ELCA is a member of both the WCC and LWF,
and participates in CWS.
     ACT members said thousands of internally displaced persons are in
urgent need of food and shelter.
     "CWS has sent 1,000 shelter kits to help people who are fleeing
Kabul, the central region of Afghanistan.  The kits include plastic and
ground sheeting," Deressa said.  "CWS is also planning on providing food
for internally displaced people," she said.
     "Fears have been expressed that relief items, which are on their
way to Afghanistan, could be looted," Deressa said.  "The CWS office in
Karachi, Pakistan, was forced to close on Monday out of safety concerns
for its staff," she said.
     Protests have been taking place in many towns and cities in
Pakistan, Deressa said.  "CWS is in constant touch with churches there,
reporting that several incidents have caused concern.  A church in
Quetta was attacked.  In Rawalpindi, houses of a Christian community
were stoned.  Police work to disperse crowds," she said.
     "Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move in Afghanistan,"
said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president of Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service (LIRS), a joint ministry of the ELCA, Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod (LCMS) and Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.  LIRS was established by Lutheran churches in the United States
to carry out the churches' ministry with immigrants and refugees around
the world.
     "Any war will produce more refugees and the displacement of
people," Deffenbaugh said.  If people flee their homes and remain
displaced in their own country, there is no international relief
available to them.  They must get to another country to receive
international assistance, he said.
     The borders are currently closed between Afghanistan and its
neighbors, Deffenbaugh said.  "Thousands will surely die from starvation
and exposure," he added.
     According to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), the people of
Afghanistan have also suffered from years of civil conflicts, natural
disasters and poverty.  LWR is the overseas relief and development
ministry of the ELCA and the LCMS.  In addition to supporting
development projects worldwide, LWR is a member of ACT.
     "The people of Afghanistan have suffered long and hard.  Civilians
who now fear U.S. military action against terrorists have already
endured three years of severe drought.  Before the drought the nation
suffered 20 years of war, including invasion by the Soviet Union in
1979.  Agriculture and the economy have sustained heavy damage.
Government services are minimal," according to a Lutheran World Relief
news release.
     LWR is assisting its partner organizations in Pakistan and Iran
with water supplies -- portable tanks, piping, purification units and
tankers -- for up to 70,000 refugees in Pakistan; emergency shelter
kits, tents, tarpaulin and blankets for 5,000 refugee families; and
quilts for 125,000 Afghan refugees in eastern Iran.
     LWR has made an initial allocation of $25,000 in cash and a
$136,500 shipment of bedding supplies.
     ELCA International Disaster Response provided an initial $150,000
earlier this month to support the people in Afghanistan.  The funds sent
by the ELCA will help support the relief efforts coordinated by ACT.
     Members of the ELCA contribute funds to the church's International
Disaster Response fund.  Coordinated through the ELCA Division for
Global Mission, International Disaster Response helps relief agencies
provide funds for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and
other materials and supplies.  Funds are also sent to rebuild
communities and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.

INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:

Editors:  When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or
the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA International Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
1-800-638-3522

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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