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, education, and other social services, collapsed. Severe restrictions by the Taliban, including a restriction on women working outside the home, added to the impact of poverty, particularly on the many households lacking able-bodied adult men. A devastating regional drought compounded the crisis, drying up wells, parching agricultural land, killing off livestock, collapsing rural economies, and eventually exhausting the coping mechanisms of many ordinary Afghans, forcing them to leave their homes in search of food and water.
International relief agencies, with support from the United States (U.S.), have long been active in providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, even during the restrictive years of the Taliban. On October 7, 2001, a Coalition-led military campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban forces began, and by December 2001, the Taliban had collapsed. The new Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) was sworn in on December 22, 2001, increasing humanitarian access to the country and beginning the process of reconstruction. Hundreds of thousands of refugee and internally displaced families have returned to their homes to assist in the rebuilding. The U.S. Agency for International Development's Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) began its emergency coordination work in response to the regional drought in June 2001, and a USAID/OFDA Program Office in Kabul continues to assess the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Afghans, and to monitor the relief programs of its implementing partners.
Afghanistan: Numbers at a Glance
Total population (CIA Factbook): 26,813,057
Old Caseload Refugees (UNHCR)
Pakistan: 2,000,000
Iran: 1,500,000
Refugee Returns Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
Pakistan (voluntary assisted since March
1): 1,038,000
Pakistan (spontaneous): 180,000
Iran (voluntary assisted since April 9): 88,000
Iran (spontaneous): 61,000
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan: 1,000
Kyrgyzstan: 33
Internally Displaced (UNDP/OCHA)
Total as of February 20, 2002: 920,000
north and northeast: 500,000
south and west: 420,000
Internally Displaced Returns Since January 1, 2002 (UNHCR)
From Tajikistan: Pyandj River (voluntary
assisted): 8,952
Total as of June 25, 2002 (vol. assisted): 171,500
Total since December 2002 (spontaneous): 400,000
FY 2001/2002 U.S. Government (USG)
Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan*: $633,391,992
FY 2001/2002 USG Humanitarian Assistance to Tajikistan: $88,208,180
Current Situation
Overview. President Hamid Karzai filled 35 executive positions in his new transition government. A joint U.S.-Afghan team is investigating civilian deaths in Uruzgan Province following U.S. bombing. An ammunition dump exploded in Spin Boldak, resulting in fatalities and injuries. Security has deteriorated in parts of central and northern Afghanistan, with persecution of ethnic minorities, fighting, and crime on the rise. Crop failures have been reported in three provinces of Afghanistan. Assisted refugee returns have increased since the Loya Jirga, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has transported internally displaced persons (IDPs) from camps in northern and western Afghanistan to their homes.
Political/Military. The newly elected president of Afghanistan's transition government, Hamid Karzai, appointed a total of 35 people to executive positions, including Cabinet ministries, special advisors, and other Cabinet-level posts. Karzai appointed a Pashtun (the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan) to serve as interior minister, though Tajiks from the Panjshir Valley retained key positions as the defense and foreign ministers. The former interior minister, also a Tajik, was named education minister, but was later given an additional position as special presidential advisor for internal security.
On July 1, U.S. Coalition forces bombed parts of Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan during an attack. According to press reports, an errant U.S. bomb killed 40 civilians and wounded another 100. A joint U.S.-Afghan team was dispatched to the affected village to determine if civilian deaths were the result of anti-aircraft gunfire or the U.S. bomb. The Afghan government denounced the attack and called on the U.S. to take measures to prevent civilian casualties.
An ammunition dump exploded late in the evening of June 27 in the southern border town of Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, where an estimated 32,000 IDPs are sheltering. The explosion triggered secondary explosions that continued until the next morning. It is not clear if the initial explosion was an accident or deliberate act. The explosion killed at least 10 people, injured 75 others, and destroyed 20 buildings. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did not receive reports of any injuries to IDPs or international staff. Two U.N. World Food Program (WFP) storage tents and stores of cooking oil were damaged.
Security. The security situation in central and northern Afghanistan has deteriorated further in recent weeks. Supporters of Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammed, rival warlords in the north, engaged in fighting in Abdrang, Jawzjan Province on June 25-26. The fighting burned a settlement with 150 families, and looting was reported in 17 other settlements. The clashes prompted the evacuation of three IOM and UNHCR workers from the capital of Faryab province. Fighting reportedly eased on June 27, although continued fighting was reported on June 29 in Seh Shanbah village near Sar-e-Pul.
On July 1, President Karzai sent a delegation to the north, particularly Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, and Badghis provinces, to address continuing harassment of ethnic minorities and an increase in criminal activity. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented abuses against ethnic Pashtuns in Faryab Province. HRW also received reports of ethnic armed groups in the north forcing IDPs to relocate or perform military support functions, particularly in Camp 65 in Chimtal District west of Mazar and Sakhi camp east of Mazar. IDPs in these camps were subjected to sexual violence and other abuses.
UNHCR also reports declining security in Kahmard and Saighan districts of the central Bamiyan Province. Intense fighting last week in Kahmard killed a number of civilians, and compelled people to leave Shaigan. Several incidents of human rights violations were reported along with the fighting in Kahmard.
UNHCR has increased the presence of protection staff in both the northern and central parts of Afghanistan.
Food Aid and Agriculture. Since September 11, 2001, WFP, with support from USAID, has delivered more than 520,000 MT of food into Afghanistan, assisting some 9.8 million Afghans.
WFP continues to experience constraints in their food pipeline because of insufficient supply. Due to the pipeline shortages, WFP has suspended wheat distribution through Food For Work and Food For Assets Creation programs in areas where spring crops are being harvested. WFP has also reduced emergency food rations from 150 kg. of wheat per family to 100 kg. In some areas, the ration has been reduced to 50 kg. with food coupons that can be redeemed for additional wheat pending food availability.
The harvest season has brought reports of both crop success and failure. The USAID/OFDA Program Office in Kabul received reports from USAID/OFDA partner CARE of irrigated crop failures in Wardak and Ghazni provinces, in addition to rivers drying up earlier than usual. In the districts of Jaghuri, Qarabagh, Wargaz, and Chaki Wardak, CARE estimated failure of an estimated 70% of the irrigated crop and 100% of rain fed crops. CARE also found that men were leaving the area in search of work due to the crop failure. USAID/OFDA also received reports of crops failing in Ghor Province. In contrast, in the Alborz District of Balkh Province, a USAID/OFDA program officer observed fields of wheat in various stages of harvest, and new fields of various fruits and vegetables. The Alborz district governor confirmed that this year's harvest has been successful.
IDPs and Refugees. More than 1.1 million Afghan refugees have been assisted in returning home since UNHCR and the AIA began their voluntary repatriation program on March 1 in coordination with neighboring governments. UNHCR expects an estimated two million Afghans to return home in 2002.
Assisted returns increased following the peaceful conclusion of the Loya Jirga. There were 62,057 refugees returning to Afghanistan between June 18 and June 24, an increase from 56,851 returns the previous week. The increase is expected to continue, particularly with the end of the school year in Iran.
A new transit center opened in Kabul on June 24 to assist returnees continuing beyond Kabul. The facility, located on the eastern road to Bagram, is managed by the Ministry of Repatriation and can accommodate returnees spending one night before continuing their journey.
More than one million Afghans have voluntarily returned from Pakistan since March 1, with 90% passing through the Takhtabaig voluntary repatriation center near Peshawar, Pakistan. More than half of these returnees from Pakistan came from North West Frontier Province, and 10% from Punjab. More than 40% of returnees are destined for Kabul Province, 23% to Nangarhar Province, and 6% to Parwan Province.
According to UNHCR, 88,000 Afghans have returned home from Iran since its program began on April 9. The Milak-Zaranj border crossing for returnees in the south has reopened since factional fighting in the city of Zaranj in Nimruz Province forced it to close temporarily. Afghans also cross from Iran at the northern Islam Qala border at Dogharun, and have gone on to areas outside Herat Province, mainly to Kabul and other urban centers. UNHCR reported that between April 9 and June 12, 33% of returnees from Iran repatriated from Tehran, 14% from Sistan va Baluchestan, and 10% from Esfahan.
UNHCR reports that approximately 10,000 Afghans have been assisted in returning home from the northern Central Asia states, including the Tajik-Afghan border and Turkmenistan.
In recent weeks, more than 5,000 Afghans have left the Chaman and Spin Boldak sites along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. UNHCR has been working to identify longer-term sites in Kandahar Province for up to 50,000 IDPs currently sheltering in Spin Boldak and Chaman. UNHCR has not identified any new NGOs to assist the five makeshift camps of Spin Boldak since two of the Muslim NGOs operating there pulled out on June 6.
Following a temporary suspension due to a funding shortage, IOM resumed return assistance for IDPs in mid-June. As of June 25, IOM transported 11,500 IDPs, including 5,178 IDPs in Herat camps to Ghor and Badghis provinces, and 6,430 IDPs in Mazar-e-Sharif to Balkh, Sar-e-Pul, and Jawzjan provinces. UNHCR has since ceased IDP returns from Herat to Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, and Badghis provinces due to reports of ethnic persecution and an increase in crime and violence. Overall, IOM plans to assist returns for approximately 43,000 IDPs in western camps, 35,000 IDPs in northern camps, and 38,000 of the most vulnerable IDPs in Kabul. Between mid-January and the end of May, IOM assisted more than 160,000 IDPs through its Internal Transport Network.
Health. The World Health Organization (WHO) appealed for $1.2 million to address a facial disfiguring disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis. The disease is caused by a parasite transmitted via insect bites, and the resulting disfiguration can lead to social stigmitization, particularly affecting women and children. WHO estimates that more than 250,000 Afghans will be infected with leishmaniasis this year, and believes 200,000 in Kabul are already infected.
USG Humanitarian Assistance
Background. On October 4, 2001, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B. Rocca redeclared a complex humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan for FY 2002. To date, FY 2001 and FY 2002 USG humanitarian assistance for Afghans has been provided by USAID/OFDA, Food for Peace (USAID/FFP), Democracy & Governance (USAID/DG), Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM), Department of State's Humanitarian Demining Program (State/HDP), the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (State/INL), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The assistance is for displaced persons inside Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in neighboring countries.
On March 26, 2002, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert P. Finn issued a disaster declaration due to the earthquake in Baghlan Province. USAID/OFDA responded by providing an additional $25,000 in Disaster Assistance Authority to ACTED, one of many USAID-funded grantees that are providing humanitarian assistance to the affected population.
In Tajikistan, on October 10, 2001, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires James A. Boughner declared a disaster due to drought, and requested funds for a seed and fertilizer distribution program. USAID/OFDA responded by providing $998,180 through the U.S. Embassy to Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) for the purchase and distribution of winter wheat seeds and fertilizer.
USAID/OFDA Assistance
Personnel. On June 7, the USAID/OFDA Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) based in Kabul was deactivated to become a USAID/OFDA Program Office. The USAID/DART had been in the region since June 2001. USAID/OFDA staff in Kabul will continue to coordinate with the humanitarian relief community, assess the humanitarian situation, and monitor USAID/OFDA programs.
OTHER USG ASSISTANCE
New Actions. State/PRM has made a number of contributions recently:
$11,000,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support protection and emergency assistance activities for Afghans in remote areas.
$7,700,000 to UNHCR to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of Afghan refugees and IDPs.
$1,225,524 to the International Medical Corps (IMC) to support a project providing healthcare, primary education, non-formal education, and microcredit for Afghan refugees in Haripur and Baluchistan, Pakistan.
$2,500,019 to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for a multifaceted reintegration project for refugee returnees in southern, central, and western Afghanistan.
$1,489,434 to Mercy Corps to stabilize at-risk communities and facilitate potential returns to Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
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USAID/OFDA bulletins can be obtained from the USAID web site at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/ofda/situation.html