February 22, 2008

Overview

Deadly violence leaves scores dead in Afghanistan's restive south

This was another week of deadly violence across Afghanistan’s restive south that left more than 160 people, mostly civilians, dead in separate incidents. A roadside bomb near Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province yesterday (Thursday, February 21) struck a police vehicle, killing an Afghan policeman and wounding four others. At least 30 suspected Taliban fighters were killed in a joint military operation near Musa Qala and Kajaki districts in Helmand on Wednesday (February 20). A remote-controlled bomb near a police compound in Kandahar province killed one civilian on Tuesday (February 19). On Monday (February 18), a bomb aimed at a NATO military convoy near the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar killed 35 civilians and wounded 30 others, including three Canadian soldiers. On Sunday (February 17) as many as 100 people were killed and dozens of others wounded when a suicide bomber struck at an outdoor dog fighting competition near Kandahar city. Abdul Hakim Jan, a powerful tribal leader and a police chief opposed to the Taliban, was among those killed in Sunday's attack. A Taliban spokesman denied their involvement in the attack. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Sunday's attack by calling it a "senseless" killing of innocent people. He said the attack was yet another reminder of the fragile security that continues to undermine the rebuilding efforts of the Afghan government and the international community.

NATO secretary-general plays down alliance tensions over Afghanistan

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer played down tensions among alliance members over its Afghan mission. De Hoop Scheffer, who was on his way to the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, told the BBC he was not happy about the limitations on troop deployments imposed by some alliance members. He said he was a realist and did not expect to see German or Italian troops in Afghanistan's restive south in the near term, except for occasional emergencies. He said he was trying to convince some countries to send additional troops, adding that such consultations were better done privately. In responding to questions over security in Afghanistan and tensions among the troop-contributing nations, de Hoop Scheffer said, "The challenges are huge, but we are not losing. We are making tremendous progress," adding that tensions among the NATO members over the Afghan mission will not be detrimental for the alliance. He said Afghan President Hamid Karzai realizes the need for a political dialog with some Taliban members.

Australia to keep troops in Afghanistan for long term

Australia says it plans to keep its troops in Afghanistan for the long term. Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra, today (Friday, February 22) that despite the government's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, Australia will continue to maintain its troops in Afghanistan. Fitzgibbon said, "We've made very clear that our commitment in Afghanistan is a long-term one." The comments came ahead of a meeting between US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and their Australian counterparts Saturday (February 23). Australia presently has some 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, mostly deployed in the country's restive south. Australia's pledge came a day after Canada said it plans to pull its 2,500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. Due to persistent insecurity across Afghanistan, many NATO members have been reluctant to commit more troops for the Afghan mission, which has caused some tensions among alliance members.

Afghanistan urges Iran to suspend mass deportation of Afghans

Afghan authorities are urging Iran to suspend the deportation of thousands of unregistered Afghan refugees living in Iran. Speaking to the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) Tuesday, Shir Mohammad Etibari, the Afghan minister for refugees and returnees, said, "We do not have the capacity to receive large number of deportees from Iran," adding that Afghanistan will face a humanitarian crisis in the event Iran resumes a mass deportation of Afghans. According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Returnees Affairs (MoRRA), Iranian authorities have deported some 17,000 Afghans, mostly single males, since January 16 despite assurances that the deportation would be suspended until spring. Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that Afghan officials have requested a meeting with their Iranian counterparts to discuss that matter and are awaiting a response. There are currently nearly 2 million Afghans in Iran. Some 900,000 are registered refugees and are entitled to protections provided by international humanitarian and refugee law. However, nearly a million Afghans in Iran are not registered and the government of Iran considers them illegal migrants not subject to the same protections as those afforded to the refugees. Last year, Iran deported some 360,000 undocumented Afghans, causing a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan due to persistent insecurity across the country and a lack of resources to settle returnees elsewhere in the country. Both the UN and the Afghan government acknowledge Iran's right to deport undocumented Afghans, but have requested that any deportations be done gradually.

Movement

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends the Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement.

Pakistan is to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country. UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign. (UNHCR, Aug-10)

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran. Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007. Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country. Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country.

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension. Pakistani authorities said voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended in April, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR.

2006: UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006. The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan closed two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics.

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

Central Region

Location

Central Region

Coordination

Population

An avalanche in the Murgab area in central Ghor killed at least 16

people. On March 19 floods killed 30 people in Uruzgan

province.

IDP Movement

Food

On December 26 a landslide had blocked access to Kehmard district in Bamiyan province, leaving an estimated 40,000 vulnerable to food shortages as prices of food rose sharply. (IRIN, Dec-27)

A rapid food needs assessment by USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) suggests that due to failed wheat crops, unfavorable weather and higher food prices, Ghor province would need in the short-term (December-April) some 14,231 metric tons of food assistance to feed its vulnerable population. (ReliefWeb, Oct-18)

According to local officials, thousands of students attending 40 schools in Ghazni province have not received WFP food assistance for over a month due to insecurity. FAO on July 5 said that 6.5 million Afghans suffer from chronic food insecurity. (IRIN, July-8)

Health

UN agencies and the local provincial government raise funds to build a new maternity wing in the Bamiyan main hospital. The new facility is expected to provide essential healthcare for expectant mothers in central Bamiyan province and to reduce the risk of both maternal and child mortality. (UNAMA, July-17).

At least 20 children have died in several districts of central Daikundi and northern Balkh provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12)

NFIs -Shelter

IOM, UNICEF, UNOCHA, & OXFAM

Water & Sanitation

UNICEF

Security

Two Dutch and two Afghan soldiers died in separate friendly fire incidents on January 12 in Dehrawud district of Uruzgan province. (Reuters, Jan-13)

Two civilians were killed and five others wounded in a clash between NATO troops and Taliban insurgents in the provincial capital, Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province on January 4. (ABC, Jan-7)

Comments

East Central Region

Location	East Central Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population
IDP Movement	UN; Government encouraging refugees to return to home provinces to limit burden on Kabul—government land distribution program only in province of origin;
Food	ISAF troops carried out a two-day food donation near the village of Gulbagh in Chahar Asiab district, (NATO, Feb-11) IRC, Action Contra la Faim; WFP
Health	At least 100 pneumonia patients, primarily children, have died in the past month in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said February 14. In the same period, over 170,000 patients with pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections have been treated at health centers across the country. The country remains under the national public health emergency declared on January 8, with 30,000 health workers requested to not take leave for the duration of the emergency period. (IRIN, Feb-14) More than 10,000 people, mostly children, have been affected by diarrhea in flood-stricken provinces across the country, including Kabul. (IRIN, July-12) Kabul is home to the world’s worst outbreak of leishmaniasis, thought to have spread to hundreds of thousands of people. The sandflies that spread the parasites causing the disease are present in all Afghan cities, but more prominently in poor, crowded areas where they breed on waste land and in trash. (Reuters, May-7) UNICEF, CARITAS, MSF, IFRC, IRC, ICRC
Non-Food Items - Shelter	UNHCR, ACTED, MSF, IRC, ICRC, IOM
Security	On February 13, near the town of Rudbar, about 35 miles (60 km) from Kabul, an Italian soldier was killed and another wounded when insurgents attacked as the soldiers helped distribute aid to the local population. (AFP, Feb-13) One civilian was killed and two others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a military vehicle in Kabul’s Taimani neighborhood on January 31. (BBC, CNN, Jan-31) One US-led coalition soldier was killed and three others wounded January 25 in Nari district in Kunar province in a clash with Afghan insurgents. (ABC, MSNBC, Jan-25) Seven people, including five foreigners, were killed in an attack on Kabul’s five-star Serena hotel on January 14. (KT, BBC, Jan-14)
Water & Sanitation	An agreement has been signed between the UNHCR and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) to provide safe drinking water for Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran, as well as IDPs. (UNHCR, Sep. 24) ICRC
Comments	The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is seeking US$13 million in emergency funds to help hundreds of thousands of Afghan children lacking proper food, water, medicines, education and other essential services. (AFP, VOA, Feb-12) According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), the US, Canada and Denmark have pledged US$31 million to a joint UN and Afghan government appeal for food aid to 2.55 million vulnerable Afghans. "The US has confirmed (its) contribution of 30,000 metric tons (MT) of wheat worth US$19 million, Canada has confirmed US$10.1 million and Denmark has confirmed US$2 million," WFP country representative Rick Corsino said. (IRIN)

Eastern Region

Location	Eastern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, International Islamic Relief Organization;
Population
IDP Movement	UNHCR
Food	IRC NATO-led ISAF PRT transported water pipes for a nearly seven-mile-long planned water supply project in Baghlan province. (NATO, Aug-23)
Health	Provincial officials in southern Khost, Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces have confirmed hundreds of diarrhea cases due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-11)
Non-Food Items - Shelter	CWS, UNICEF
Security	On Tuesday (Feb-12), a roadside bomb exploded in the eastern province of Khost, killing two Afghan security guards hired by the US to fight beside coalition forces, and wounding another. The guards were on their way to an outpost along the Afghan-Pakistani border when their vehicle encountered the bomb. (CNN, Feb-13) One Afghan soldier and two civilians were killed and five others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack aimed at an Afghan National Army convoy in Ghazni city on February 8. (KT, Reuters, Feb-8) A suicide car bomb attack aimed at a NATO military convoy in Khost province wounded three NATO soldiers. (KT, Feb-8) Four Afghan soldiers working with the US-led coalition forces were killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Khost on January 25. (ABC, MSNBC, Jan-25) Eleven people, including nine policemen and two civilians, were reportedly killed in US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at Taliban insurgents in Ghazni on January 24. (BBC, ABC, Jan-24)
Water & Sanitation	CARITAS; ICRC, UNICEF
Comments

Northeastern Region

Location	Northeastern Region
Coordination
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast
Movement IDPs
Food	On December 27, heavy snowfall had blocked access to at least 10 districts in Badakhshan province, leaving some 200,000 people in need of food assistance. (IRIN, Dec-27)
Health	WHO, Merlin, UNICEF, MSF; ICRC
Non-Food Items (NFIs) -Shelter	UNICEF, ACTED, Refugees Int’l, Mercy Corps
Security	Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed two Afghan policemen and abducted a police commander in Nuristan province. (BBC, Oct-7) Twelve people, including five government employees and seven policemen, were killed on September 23 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as it traveled through northeastern Badakhshan province. (CNN, Sep-24)
Water & Sanitation
Comments	The MoPH has asked the NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Badakhshan for air support to enable medical teams to service otherwise inaccessible areas. (IRIN, Feb-14) At least 13 people were killed in an avalanche in Baharak district in northeastern Badakhshan province on December 11. Fifteen others were rescued. (IRIN, Dec-12)

Northern Region

Location	Northern Region
Coordination	UNHCR, IOM
Population	9,000 active IDPs in North and Northeast; 60,000 IDPs from North elsewhere in country.
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food
Health	MSF, ICRC, UNICEF At least 20 children have died in several districts of northern Balkh and central Daikundi provinces over the past five weeks due to water contamination from floods. (IRIN, July-12)
NFIs –Shelter	IOM, ACTED, Mercy Corps
Security	More than 65 people, including six members of Afghanistan’s lower house of the parliament and 59 schoolchildren, were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack near a sugar factory in northern Baghlan province on November 6. (ABC, BBC, Reuters, Nov 6-8) Four people, including a district police chief, his brother and two other policemen, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in northern Baghlan province on September 24. (The News, Sep-25)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF, ICRC, DACAAR
Comments	ISAF PRT helps flood-affected families in Khamyab and Qarqin districts in Jowzjan province at the request of provincial authorities. (Frontier Post, Aug-12)

Southern Region

Location	Southern Region
Coordination	UNHCR
Population	IFRC says that flash floods and avalanches in early March have affected 2,200 families in Helmand/Sangreen Grishk, Musa Qala, and Nowzad districts; and 400 families in Uruzgan/Dehraud district. (IFRC, Mar-23).
Movement of IDPs	Intense military operations against Afghan insurgents in southern Helmand province, especially in Musa Qala district, have caused hundreds of families to flee their homes to neighboring districts and the provincial capital, Lashkargah. (IRIN, Dec-6) UNOCHA reports that over 2,500 families have left their homes in different districts of Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces over the past two months, according to provincial officials. Many of the displaced say they are leaving because of forced recruitment attempts by the Taliban and air strikes by international forces. Many have sought shelter in Kandahar city. (UNOCHA, Sep-27) In Uruzgan province, 880 families affected by conflict in Chora district have been settled in Tirin Kot and Dehrawud districts with the help of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and UNICEF. (ReliefWeb, July-30) About 2,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled their homes in several parts of Helmand province due to heavy fighting between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces. (IRIN, July-9)
Food	WFP says it could not deliver 50 tons of mixed food to Geeti district in Daykundi province due to security concerns. WFP plans to deliver food as soon as safe passage is guaranteed. (IRIN, Nov-14) The World Food Program (WFP) delivered 500 metric tons of food to the provincial capital Lashkargah, in southern Helmand province for some 4,500 families affected by fighting in Musa Qala, Sangin, Kajakiand Nawzad districts. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) WFP also distributed 300 tons of food to some 37,000 beneficiaries in Kandahar and Helmand under food-for-work and literacy programs. (ReliefWeb, Sep-3) UNICEF; Mercy Corps; CARITAS; WFP
Health	A UNICEF-led Polio vaccination campaign was suspended in Musa Qala due to military operations. The campaign was also suspended in parts of five other districts. (ReliefWeb, Dec-20) Afghan and US-led coalition forces treated some 700 Afghans during a two-day outreach operation in Kandahar on December 7 and 8. (Reliefweb, Dec-12) The Australian Reconstruction Task Force (RTF), part of the Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Regional Command South, has completed the redevelopment of the Tarin Kowt Hospital and the construction of the Yaklengah Comprehensive Health Clinic. (NATO, Sep-17) The Afghan Ministry of Public Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed a memorandum of understanding under which the ICRC will significantly increase its support for the 390-bed regional referral Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar for the next two years. The hospital formerly run by Italian NGO Emergency provides essential care for thousands of patients, including men, women and children wounded in hostilities in the neighboring provinces of Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan. (ICRC, July-26)
NFIs - Shelter	UNHCR, Mercy Corps
Security	*A roadside bomb near Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, struck a police vehicle Thursday (Feb-21), killing an Afghan policeman and wounding four others. (News, Feb-22)* *At least 30 suspected Taliban fighters were killed in a joint military operation near Helmand’s Musa Qala and Kajaki districts on Wednesday (Feb-20). (Xinhuanet, KT, Feb-21)* A remote-controlled bomb near a police compound in Kandahar on Tuesday (Feb-19) killed one civilian. On Monday (Feb-18) a bomb aimed at a NATO military convoy near the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar killed 35 civilians and wounded 30 others, including three Canadian soldiers. (BBC, CNN, IHT, Feb-18-19) On Sunday (Feb-17) as many as 100 people were killed and dozens of others wounded when a suicide bomber struck at an outdoor dog fighting competition near Kandahar city. (BBC, CNN, AP, Feb-17)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Some 2,500 families (roughly 13,000 people) who fled ongoing violence in Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar are staying around Kandahar city in urgent need of temporary shelter. (IRIN, Oct-3) UNICEF estimates some 262 of the 740 schools in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul are currently unable to provide education. (UNNS, July-30)

Southern Region IDP camps

Location	Zhare Dasht - South of Kandahar – 6 camps
Type	IDP Camp
Coordination	UNHCR
Camp Capacity	30,000; expandable to 60,000
Population	125,000 IDPs in south; 48,500 at Zhare Dasht
Movement IDP
Food	WFP
Health	UNICEF, MSF
NFIs – Shelter
Security
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Support for Spin Boldak camps terminated in 2004.

Western Region

Location	Western Region
Coordination	UNHCR; ICMC
Population	According to the IFRC, flash floods and avalanches in early March affected some 200 families in Herat city; 918 families in Gulran district; 35 families in Cheshte Sharif district; 150 families in Shindand district, 6,500 families in Badghis/Jawand and Murghab districts, and 20 families in Gour district. (IFRC, Mar-23) 12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food	IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP *WFP has delivered 553 metric tons of food assistance to 12,800 winter-affected families in the western region. (UNAMA, Feb-19)* The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, has donated 20 tons of concentrated animal feed to winter-affected farmers in Herat. (UNAMA, Feb-19)
Health	Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), with the help of US-led coalition forces, carried out a Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) in Shewan, western Farah province on August 30 and treated more than 811 people, including 576 women and children. (USG, Sep-2)
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have delivered food and non-food items, including over 15,000 sweaters, as well as blankets, tarpaulin, plastic sheets and plastic mats, to Herat and Farah provinces. About 2,500 IDP families living in Shaidei and Maslakh camps near Herat have received food and non-food items as well. (UNAMA, Feb-19)
Security	On Thursday (February 14), four Afghan police officers died and two officers were wounded in a three-hour gun battle after insurgents ambushed a police vehicle in southwestern Nimroz province. (The News, Feb-15) Two civilians were wounded in a botched suicide car bomb attack aimed at a NATO convoy in Nimroz province on February 7. (KT, ABC, Feb-7 & 8) On February 4, at least 10 people, including civilians, were reportedly killed in separate raids on the homes of suspected Taliban members in western Farah province. (KT, ABC, Feb-4)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments	Some 85 percent of Herat province is now accessible following severe winter weather. Ghor province is only 50 percent accessible due to heavy snow. Badghis remains only 60 percent accessible. Among all winter-affected provinces, Farah remains least accessible, in part due to security. (OCHA, Feb-21) In Herat, 576 people, in Badghis 228 people, in Ghor 45 people and in Farah some 33 people have died as a result of the harsh winter weather, including severe cold and heavy snow, bringing the overall death toll to 882. Dozens of people have had their hands or feet amputated due to frostbite. (UNOCHA, AP, Feb-21)

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), NWFP, Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR on August 2 extended the tripartite agreement governing the voluntary repatriation of registered Afghans from Pakistan through December 2009. The agreement provides a legal and operational framework for the process. To date, more than 3 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan under the voluntary repatriation program since 2002. This year, more than 300,000 Afghans have returned. (UNHCR, GOP, Aug-2) The Kacha Garhi Afghan refugee camp was officially closed on July 26. Kacha Garhi, set up in 1980 and located in Hayatabad in NWFP, had 64,000 registered Afghans. The closure followed two years of negotiations, as many refugees initially did not want to repatriate. By the camp's closure, some 37,000 refugees had been repatriated by the UNHCR. Most refugees were originally from Afghanistan's eastern and central provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, Kabul, and Logar. (UNHCR, July-27)
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	2.05 million registered Afghans remaining in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 12 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan; (UNHCR, Aug-2) Jungle Pir Alizai (Balochistan): 36,000, originally scheduled to close June 15. Kacha Gari (NWFP): original population of 64,811, officially closed July 26 – 37,000 repatriated. (UNHCR, July-27) Jalozai (NWFP): 109,934, originally scheduled to close August 31. UNHCR on August 22 requested Pakistan to temporarily suspend the camp’s closure due to insufficient time for some 100,000 people to move and settle into new places in the face of the fast approaching Ramadan and winter season. (UNHCR, Aug-22) Pakistan has extended the camp closure deadline until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4) Girdi Jungle (Balochistan): 17,844, scheduled to close August 31. (IRIN, June-14)
Refugee Movement	Pakistan wants some 2 million Afghan refugees to return home by 2009. (AP, June-14) UNHCR temporarily suspends Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2).
Food	UNHCR in coordination with local and international organizations is helping some 4,000 Afghans in five flood-affected Afghan refugee camps in Balochistan province. The assistance mainly included non-food items such as tents and tarpaulins. (IRIN, July-26). WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security	At least three Pakistani villagers and an Afghan refugee were killed when hundreds of villagers and refugees living in and near the Jungle Pir Alizai camp in Balochistan province clashed with police sent to demolish their homes. (AP, June-14)
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments