58 updates found
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01 Jul 2002

Afghanistan + 3 others
Considerations relating to the provision of protection and assistance to IDPs in Afghanistan

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
1. Introduction
Following the signing of the Bonn Agreement1 and the establishment of the Afghan Interim Administration on 22 December 2001, large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons began to return to their areas of origin.

While ethnic and factional violence as well as human rights abuses against members of certain groups are still reported in some areas, more than 1.2 million Afghans have returned from the neighbouring countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan since March this year, when the Afghan Interim Administration and the United Nations

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28 Jun 2002

Pakistan
Pakistan: Hope springs eternal - Aid work in Balochistan taps water in the drought-ridden region

Report
— Mercy Corps
by Cassandra Nelson
After five years of severe drought, the western Pakistan province of Balochistan is in what seems to be an irreversible downslide. Hostile terrain, desertification, degraded agricultural lands, contaminated and inadequate water supply, and poverty at a mass scale all paint a bleak and depressing picture.

Last year, 22 of the province's 26 districts were all categorized as drought areas, and although there were some rains last winter, the situation has not improved significantly. The rains will

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28 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 2 others
Central Asia: IRIN Weekly Round-up 64 covering the period 22 - 28 Jun 2002

Report
— IRIN
UNITED NATIONS
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network
AFGHANISTAN: Optimistic returnees face daunting challenges

Packed into brightly coloured trucks, tractors, pick-ups and buses, thousands of Afghans throng the Pol-e Charkhi returnee centre about 15 km east of the capital, Kabul. In the week that the UN announced that more than a million refugees in Pakistan had signed up for repatriation, sixty-year-old Mamo Gula, who had made it to Pol-e Charkhi along with her four grand children from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad,

IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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27 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 2 others
Transcript of a press briefing by Mr. Filippo Grandi, UNHCR Representative for Afghanistan 27 Jun 2002

Report
— UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
I don't think you need to know much more and of course I appreciate that everybody is dealing with returnees these days from the Security Council to the art world [comment made in reference to earlier briefing by UNAMA Spokesman]. Since we heard that the famous actress is also returning to Afghanistan, it seems to be quite the central issue. But this is precisely what I wanted to share with you. You hear, I think here, briefing after briefing, a series of figures and numbers from Yusuf and my colleagues. This is very important
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27 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Afghanistan: Optimistic returnees face daunting challenges

Report
— IRIN
KABUL, 27 June (IRIN) - Packed into brightly coloured trucks, tractors, pick-ups and buses, thousands of Afghans throng the Pol-e Charkhi returnee centre about 15 km east of the capital, Kabul. In the week that the UN announced that more than a million refugees in Pakistan had signed up for repatriation, sixty-year-old Mamo Gula, who had made it to Pol-e Charkhi along with her four grand children from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, told IRIN they were happy to be back. "I am pleased - at least I will be buried in my own soil," she said.
Gula, an ethnic Pashtun, had been living
IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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27 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 24 others
WFP Emergency Report No. 26 of 2002

Report
— World Food Programme
This report includes:
(A) East and Southern Africa Region: (1) Regional Overview, (2) Lesotho, (3) Malawi, (4) Mozambique, (5) Swaziland, (6) Zambia, (7) Zimbabwe, (8) Uganda, (9) Kenya, (10) Tanzania, (11) Rwanda, (12) Burundi, (13) Ethiopia

(B) West Africa Region: (1) Cape Verde

(C) Central Africa Region: (1) Angola

(D) Central Asia Region: (1) Afghanistan, (2) Iran, (3) Pakistan

(E) Asia Region: (1) DPR Korea

(F) Eastern Europe Region: (1) Kosovo, (2) Serbia, (3) Montenegro, (4) Albania

(G) Latin America and Caribbean Region: (1) Guatemala, (2) Panama

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26 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
UN warns of Afghan disaster, refugees build new lives in Pakistan

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Talek Harris

SHAMSHATOO REFUGEE CAMP, Pakistan, June 26 (AFP) - The United Nations is warning that Afghanistan risks becoming the world's next great humanitarian disaster if an urgent plea for food and funds is not answered soon.

World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Khaled Mansour said the country could soon be inhabited by "walking skeletons" as the UN agency's new boss toured this Afghan refugee camp in northwestern Pakistan.

"The most important thing for us is not to wait for the CNN factor, where you see people completely wasted

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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26 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
More than million Afghan refugees sign up to leave Pakistan: UNHCR

Report
— Agence France-Presse
ISLAMABAD, June 26 (AFP) - More than one million Afghan refugees have signed up to head home from Pakistan but many more are staying in their adopted country, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.

Registered returns from Pakistan hit the million mark less than four months after repatriations began in March, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

"We are extremely pleased that so many people have opted to return home from Pakistan," said UNHCR spokesman Hasim Utkan.

"But with Afghans so integrated,

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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26 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Feature: Aid drying up in Afghanistan's Spin Boldak region

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, June 26 (UNHCR) - At the height of the US-led bombing campaign in late 2001, hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled their homes seeking safety, relief aid, and to escape bandits who came out of the woodwork as the Taliban regime collapsed.
By mid-October 2001, thousands of displaced people had converged on Spin Boldak, a border town located on the southern edge of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, where several Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGOs) established relief operations.

Many Afghans also found their way into

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25 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Afghan returnees embrace hope amid uncertainties

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
QUETTA, Pakistan (UNHCR) - Eight-year-old Shakar Ullah looked like he had the weight of the world on his small shoulders as he sat on his family belongings on a loaded truck, waiting to return with his family to Ghazni in Afghanistan. He was deeply engrossed in thoughts of an uncertain future.
Asked how he felt about going home, he contemplated for a while, gazing at his veiled mother seated beside him. "Good," he decided. A student of class 4, the boy hopes to continue his studies in Ghazni. "I want to become a mualam [teacher]," he said.
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24 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Pakistan calls for world to help fund return of Afghan refugees

Report
— Agence France-Presse
ISLAMABAD, June 24 (AFP) - Pakistan on Monday called for international donors to help shift its massive community of Afghan refugees back to their home country as quickly as possible.

The plea came despite warnings from aid agencies last week that Afghanistan was too violent and poor to support the returning refugees.

But foreign office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan on Monday said Afghanistan's recent Loya Jirga was a sign the country was returning to peace and he urged the global community to pitch in to hurry the refugees home.

"As you know, the three million

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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24 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Stranded Afghans get shelter from sandstorms

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
CHAMAN, Pakistan, June 24 (UNHCR) -- Aid workers struggling to help stranded Afghans living just inside south-western Pakistan's Chaman border crossing distributed tarpaulins and poles today to better protect the refugees from sandstorms plaguing the frontier site.
Since February, thousands of Afghans stuck at Chaman have been living under makeshift shelters of threadbare canvas and shredded plastic, sleeping rough with little more than muddy quilts separating them from the hard earth.

High winds plague the drought-affected

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23 Jun 2002

Pakistan
Pakistan: Drought relief package - Provinces to get Rs 6bn assistance

Report
— Frontier Post
ISLAMABAD: The federal government is providing Rs.6 billion from the Federal PSDP to the provincial governments for implementing Drought Emergency Relief Assistance (DERA) Programme for the year, said spokesman, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Dr. Muhammad Hanif Saturday.

Talking to newsmen, he said that the government had launched Rs.7 billion drought mitigation program with the assistance of donor agencies under the name of Drought Emergency Relief Assistance (DERA) last year.

He said that the programme is under implementation by the Planning and Development Division.

Frontier Post:

© Copyright The Frontier Post

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21 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 6 others
UNHCR briefing notes: Liberia, Afghanistan, Eritrea/Sudan

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Kris Janowski - Media Relations
This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

1) LIBERIA

Liberian rebels on Thursday attacked the Sinje refugee camp near the border with Sierra Leone, taking away five local nurses and sending an estimated 11,000 Sierra Leone refugee into flight. The rebels, from a group that calls itself Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), acknowledged that they were holding five nurses from the medical NGO MERCI which works with UNHCR. A rebel

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21 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 6 others
Central Asia Region - Complex Emergency Situation Report #37 (FY 2002)

Report
— US Agency for International Development
Download PDF (36.59 KB)
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

Note: This Situation Report updates previous Central Asia Task Force Situation Reports and Fact Sheets. New information is italicized.

BACKGROUND

Two decades of war in Afghanistan, including a decade-long Soviet occupation and ensuing civil strife, left Afghanistan impoverished and mired in an extended humanitarian crisis. Government infrastructure, including the ability to deliver the most basic health,

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21 Jun 2002

Lesotho + 22 others
WFP Emergency Report No. 25 of 2002

Report
— World Food Programme
This report includes:
(A) Eastern and Southern Africa Region: (1) Regional Overview, (2) Lesotho, (3) Malawi, (4) Mozambique, (5) Zambia, (6) Zimbabwe, (7) Madagascar, (8) Burundi, (9) Kenya

(B) West Africa Region: (1) Liberia,(2) Sierra Leone, (3) Guinea, (4) Cote d'Ivoire

(C) Central Africa Region: (1) Angola, (2) Namibia, (3) Republic of Congo, (4) Democratic Republic of Congo

(D) Central Asia Region: (1) Afghanistan, (2) Iran, (3) Pakistan

(E) Eastern Europe Region: (1) Russian Federation, (2) Georgia

(F) Latin America Region: (1) Colombia, (2) El Salvador

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20 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 5 others
Interactive Map of Central Asia

Map
— Harvard University
Map created by the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research
Please click on a country to access regional and country specific maps. Various political, historical and thematic maps are available.
Borders depicted do not necessarily denote internationally recognized borders.
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19 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 1 other
Afghanistan too "precarious" for returning refugees: UNHCR

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Talek Harris

ISLAMABAD, June 19 (AFP) - The United Nations refugee agency on Wednesday said it was "not encouraging" Afghans to return home because many parts of the country were unsafe, unclean and lacked enough food.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Peter Kessler said the million Afghans who have returned home since March were facing a fresh crisis with the embattled nation now "dropping off the relief agenda".

"This has been an unprecedented repatriation despite the fact that we're not encouraging Afghans to return

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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18 Jun 2002

India + 1 other
India and Pakistan: Agriculture in Kashmir and surrounding regions

Map
— Government of the United States of America
Maps analyzing main crop in Kashmir area.
Source: Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA
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18 Jun 2002

Afghanistan + 2 others
Afghan refugee focus

Report
— Institute for War and Peace Reporting
The number of Afghan refugees returning home following the over throw of the Taleban has surpassed all expectations.
By the IWPR training team in Peshawar. (18-Jun-02)

The two-lane road heading toward the Khyber Pass is crowded with gaudily painted trucks loaded high with Afghans, their clothes and furniture - and even the weathered wooden poles that once held up the roofs of their mud houses in Pakistan.

The flood of returning refugees has stunned aid workers. The UN had hoped that around 400,000 would go home in 2002,

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