March 30, 2007

 

 

Overview

 

At least 28 dead in continuing violence in Afghanistan's restive south and east

At least 28 people were killed this week in separate security incidents across Afghanistan. Afghan and NATO-led security forces killed five Taliban insurgents and wounded seven others on Monday (March 26) in the southeastern province of Ghazni after militants attacked a 13-vehicle convoy carrying supplies for a NATO base. Four Afghan policemen and a suicide bomber were killed in an attack aimed at the provincial police chief in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province on Tuesday (March 27). A suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday (March 28) killed five people, including four civilians. At least 13 people, including a NATO soldier, were killed in separate clashes in Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces on Thursday (March 29). Violence is expected to continue to climb as NATO-led forces continue their security sweep against Taliban insurgents across the country’s restive south and east.

 

UN Security Council unanimously extends Afghan mission until 2008

Last Friday (March 23), the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted resolution 1746 (2007), extending the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year until March 23, 2008. In adopting the resolution, the UNSC recognized the central role of the UNAMA in promoting peace and stability in the country. The Council also emphasized the importance of UNAMA's role in promoting a more coherent international engagement in the country, including monitoring the situation of civilians affected by the armed conflict. It also called on all Afghan parties and groups to engage in an inclusive political dialog, within the framework of the Afghan Constitution and reconciliation process led by the Afghan government. The Council also urged the full and timely implementation of the Afghan government's Action Plan on Peace, Justice and Reconciliation. A UNAMA spokesman said, "Our new mandate represents a strong sign of support and commitment from the international community to Afghanistan," and added that UNAMA will continue to open new offices to extend its presence in more remote locations.

 

Italy's parliament votes to keep troops in Afghanistan

Italy's Senate on Tuesday (March 27) voted to keep the country's nearly 2,000 troops in Afghanistan. Despite opposition from its leftist allies who want some 1,900 troops currently deployed in Afghanistan to return home, Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government won the vote by 180 votes to two, in the upper house of the parliament, for new funding for military missions abroad. There were 132 abstentions, which in the upper house also count as "no" votes. Before the vote, Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema promised to give Italy's troops in Afghanistan better equipment, partially meeting the opposition's demand. He also said that the government at present had no plans to lift restrictions on troop deployments elsewhere in Afghanistan. Commenting on Italy's decision to continue funding for Italy's military missions abroad, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said Italy's decision confirmed its commitment to the mission. He emphasized that Italian troops were making a visible difference in Afghanistan's western province of Herat.

 

Voluntary repatriation for Afghan refugees in Pakistan without proof of registration to end on April 15

Voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan who are without Proof of Registration (PoR) cards is scheduled to end on April 15. The Afghan refugees without PoR are given six weeks to repatriate, with assistance averaging US$100 per person. According to Pakistani officials, the repatriation campaign for some 2.5 million Afghans with PoR will resume on April 16 with new repatriation modalities linked to the PoR card. Authorities have said Afghans remaining in Pakistan without PoR will be considered illegal migrants and will be subject to prosecution. Separately, officials from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan say more than 28,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their homes from Pakistan since it resumed the voluntary repatriation campaign earlier this month after its routine suspension during the winter. In order to encourage more people to return to Afghanistan and to enable their better integration into society, UNHCR has significantly increased its assistance package for 2007. Under the new package, refugees will receive US$100 per person in addition to a transportation allowance.

 

Movement

 

2007 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.

 

Some 28,000 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 say voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) will end on April 15, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR will be considered illegal and subject to government action.

 

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 will close 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

 

 

East Central Region

 

 

Eastern Region

 

 

Northeastern Region

 

 

Northern Region

 

 

Southern Region

 

 

 

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	An estimated
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 have 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, March 23)   12,000 IDPs, mostly in Maslakh camp
Movement IDPs	IOM
Food	WFP has sent 127 tons of food assistance for some 3,515 flood-affected families in Badghis province. (OCHA, Nov. 23) IRC, CARITAS, UNICEF, World Vision, IOM, Action Contre la Faim; WFP;
Health
Non-Food Items (NFIs) – Shelter	UNHCR sent 50 tents, 1,000 blankets, 500 plastic sheets, 20 jerry cans and 500 lanterns for flood victims in Badghis. (OCHA, Nov. 23) UNHCR, Iranian Red Crescent, UNICEF, IOM, Ockenden Int’l, MSF, IMC;
Security	At least 10 policemen were in a roadside bomb aimed at a police convoy in Bakwa district in western Farah province on Tuesday (March 13), which also killed the newly-appointed district police chief. (ABC, HT, Mar. 13)
Water & Sanitation	UNICEF
Comments

Refugee Camps in Pakistan

 

Location	Long-term camps in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Baluchistan Province, and by capital, Islamabad; Mohamed Kheil 1 & 2 camps (85 km southwest of Quetta)
Type	Refugee Camps
Coordination	UNHCR.
Camp Capacity	About one million mostly long term Afghans in 74 camps—down from about 200 camps.
Population	Estimated 2.6 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan; 63 camps in NWFP, 10 in Baluchistan; and one million elsewhere; Many occupants are long-term residents or were born in Pakistan;
Refugee Movement
Food	WFP, CRS, ARC
Health	UNICEF, MSF
Non-Food Items (NFIs) - Shelter	CRS
Security
Water & Sanitation	IFRC, MDM
Comments	The Pakistan government has identified existing camps in Dhir and Chitral in the northern part of the country as relocation sites for Afghans who can not return to Afghanistan following recent camp closures in NWFP and Balochistan. (UNHCR, Feb. 21)   2,161,984 Afghans were registered between October 2006 and yesterday. Of the total, 1,368,316 were registered in North West Frontier Province; 454,726 in Balochistan; 240,698 in Punjab and Islamabad; 92,189 in Sindh; and 6,055 in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir (PcK). More than 2.87 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan since 2002, including over 133,000 in 2006. (Feb. 16, Reuters)   As of February 2, 2007, over two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan have registered in a US$6-million refugee registration campaign jointly carried out by the UNHCR and Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). (UNHCR, Feb. 2)   Pakistan will close four Afghan refugee camps in its border areas, Girdi Jungle and Jungle Pir Alizai in southwestern Balochistan province, and Katchagari and Jalozai in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), by August this year. The camps house about 230,000 people. Katchagari and Jungle Pir Alizai will be closed by June 15, while Jalozi and Girdi Jungle will be closed by August 31. (BBC, UNHCR, Feb-09)