March 7, 2008

Overview

UN names new envoy to Afghanistan

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide as his new envoy for Afghanistan. Eide, who in the past worked as a UN envoy in the Balkans, is expected to take on a more prominent role in coordinating international humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and work with the UN-backed NATO-led military mission in the country. Eide's appointment is subject to the Security Council's approval. Eide will replace Tom Koenigs of Germany as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Eide, 59, reportedly is known as an effective diplomat with experience in nation-building and dealing with NATO.

Several killed and wounded in continuing violence in Afghanistan's south and east

Several people, including Taliban insurgents, were killed in separate security incidents across Afghanistan's restive south and east. One Afghan policeman was killed and at least five others wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a government building in Tani district in the eastern province of Khost on Tuesday (March 4). On Monday (March 3), at least three NATO and two Afghan soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a government compound that also housed some NATO troops in Yaqoubi district of Khost. Two of the wounded soldiers and two Afghan civilians later died. On Sunday (March 2), more than 20 Taliban fighters were killed or wounded in a clash with Afghan and US-led coalition forces in southern Helmand province. The clash took place in Helmand's Garmser district, where troops were targeting a Taliban commander. During the operation, four men with suspected links to the militants were also detained. Also on Sunday, US-led coalition troops detained four suspected militants in Qalat district in Zabul province in connection with their involvement in a string of attacks along the main highway connecting Kabul to Kandahar. Separate Taliban insurgents attacked two more mobile phone towers over the weekend in Kandahar and Helmand provinces after warning mobile phone operators to shut down their signals every night for a 10-hour stretch from 17:00 to 03:00 or face retaliation. Following through with their threat, militants destroyed the first phone tower on February 29 in Kandahar.

WFP begins food distributions for millions of Afghans affected by high food prices

The UN World Food Program (WFP) said Thursday (March 6) that it has begun emergency food assistance to millions of Afghans affected by high food prices. Rick Corsino, country director for WFP in Afghanistan, said, "Between now and mid-year, WFP aims to reach 2.5 million people in both urban and rural areas of Afghanistan. They urgently need food to help them overcome increases in wheat prices that have exceeded 70 percent over the past 12 months." He said WFP plans to distribute wheat to 650,000 beneficiaries, including households headed by women, large households with single-wage earners and the disabled. Corsino said the food distributions will be completed before the main mid-year wheat harvest season to avoid an adverse impact on local wheat prices and domestic farmers' morale. Corsino said more than US$50 million has been pledged in response to the UN's US$77 million appeal for 89,000 metric tons of emergency food aid due to rising food prices. The appeal was jointly launched with the Afghan government. He said including the new food aid, WFP now plans to distribute some 269,000 metric tons of food to some 3.4 million Afghan beneficiaries in 2008. WFP said due to an up to 40 percent increase in food prices, the cost of food for its projects worldwide that had already been approved for 2008 has gone up by as much as US$500 million, bringing the cost of total food aid for 2008 to US$3.4 billion.

UN drug control office says corruption fuels Afghanistan's record drug production

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is saying Afghanistan continues to be the world's largest producer of opium and heroin despite international efforts to stem the production of illicit drugs. In a report released Wednesday (March 5), the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said, "The illegal cultivation of poppies for opium in Afghanistan has reached a deeply worrying level despite the efforts of the (Afghan) government and the help of the international community over the last five years." The report noted that Afghanistan now accounts for some 93 percent of global opium production. Speaking to reporters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Christian Gynna Oguz, country director for the UNODC, said, "Powerful individuals compromise the justice system through bribes and corruption, as well as implicit and explicit threats," adding, "such situations can no longer be tolerated if Afghans are to have the type of judicial system and functioning institutional structures that they deserve." She urged the government to stamp out the "telephone justice" in which powerful individuals both inside and outside the government improperly intervene into drug investigations with a simple phone call. Oguz urged the government to redouble its efforts against drug production and to also go after drug traders, who collectively earn over US$4 billion from illicit drug trade. According to experts, the issue has to be tackled with a holistic approach that addresses corruption within the government, overhauls the country's antiquated irrigation system, and offers alternative livelihoods for farmers and incentives to replace opium with other crops.

Movement

2008: UNHCR will resume voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan on March 1 with the first batch of refugees leaving from Quetta in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and a second batch from Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province.

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	*WFP has begun distributing wheat to some 650,000 beneficiaries affected by high food prices in Kabul and the surrounding areas. (Reliefweb, Mar-6, 2008)* 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	One Afghan policeman was killed and at least five others wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a government building in Tani district in Khost province on Tuesday (March 4). (AP, Reuters, Mar. 4) On Monday (March 3), at least three NATO and two Afghan soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a government compound that also housed some NATO troops in Yaqoubi district of Khost. Two of the wounded NATO soldiers and two Afghans civilians later died. (KT, ABC, BBC, Mar-3) Two Polish soldiers from the NATO-led force were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Sharan district in Paktika province on Wednesday (Feb-27). (KT, CNN, BBC, Feb-27, 2008) A roadside bomb in Sabri district in Khost province killed five Afghan policemen travelling in an unmarked car to work on Tuesday (Feb-26). (CNN, BBC, Feb-26, 2008) Seven Afghan security guards working for a road construction firm were killed in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Kunar province on Saturday (February-23). (IHT, Feb-23, 2008) A district police chief in Kunar’s Chawkey district was gunned down by unidentified assailants on February 22. (IHT, Feb-23, 2008)
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 The Netherlands will provide US$713,000 (470,000 euros) for repair of war-damaged homes for 400 families in Deh Rawood and 150 families in Tirin Kot. (Reliefweb, Feb-28)
Security	*On Sunday (March 2), more than 20 Taliban fighters were killed or wounded in a clash with Afghan and US-led coalition\ forces in southern Helmand province. (KT, ABC, Mar-3)* Twenty-five suspected Taliban militants were killed in a clash with Afghan security forces in Marja district in Helmand during a poppy eradication campaign on Thursday (Feb-28). (CNN, BBC, TNI, Feb-28) Two Afghan soldiers were killed and six others wounded in a rocket attack in Maiwand district in Kandahar on Monday (Feb-25). (Reliefweb, HT, Feb-27) Afghan and NATO forces killed seven Taliban militants in security operations in Kajaki and Nawzad districts on Monday. (KT, BBC, Feb-27) A roadside bomb killed three Afghan policemen and wounded two others in Kandahar on Sunday (Feb-24). (China Daily, Feb-24)
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	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