IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Returnees need urgent assistance
25 January 2007


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

PANJWAYI, 25 January (IRIN) - Thousands of Afghans uprooted by the war 
against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have begun to return home, 
although many returnees find life in their devastated villages very 
hard.

According to the United Nations, 90,000 people fled Panjwayi and Zhari 
districts in Kandahar province in September 2006 when NATO-led forces 
launched a military operation against Taliban fighters. Afghan 
authorities say in recent weeks about 28,000 people have returned to the 
two districts.

Said Mohammad, 53, and his 17-member family were forced to flee Lakanai 
village in Panjwayi district, 30 km west of Kandahar city, when heavy 
fighting erupted. "I have lost everything, including a garden [full] of 
grape [vines], which was the only source of income for supporting my 
family, during the fighting," Mohammad told IRIN in Panjwayi.

"We have received very little food and have a few blankets from the 
government which is not enough for us. We need shelter and more food [to 
survive on] until our houses and farming land are rehabilitated."

Mohammad returned home after he heard from other villagers that the 
fighting was over and the government had started several relief and 
development projects for local people.

Fazal Rahman, 35, who returned on Sunday to his village of Sperwan in 
Panjwayi district, said the returnees needed urgent help.  "First we 
need shelter and food, because we have lost our home, crops and even our 
fields during the fighting," he said.

Agha Mohammad Nazari, deputy director of Refugees and Repatriation 
Department of Kandahar, acknowledged the problem. "Undoubtedly, the most 
significant problem of returned people [to Panjwayi and Zhari districts] 
is currently the lack of shelter," he said.

Few aid agencies are working in the southern region due to insecurity 
and statistics are hard to come by, but many returning families are said 
to be in a similar situation.

Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan 
(UNAMA) in Kabul, said the UN was stepping up efforts to provide 
humanitarian assistance to Afghan families displaced by the insurgency 
in Kandahar province.

"The UN agencies are currently pushing ahead to help local authorities 
deliver essential humanitarian assistance to the displaced families," 
Siddique said. The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided 2,000 metric 
tonnes of food; the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN High Commissioner 
for Human Rights (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) have contributed 4,000 blankets, 2,000 plastic sheets, and 2,000 
family kits containing kerosene lamps and other essential cooking 
utensils. "This distribution started 14 days ago and will continue over 
the next three to four weeks," Siddique said.

Assadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar, said the districts of Panjwayi 
and Zhari had been cleared of Taliban insurgents during recent military 
operations. "Now all displaced families living in Kandahar city can 
return to their homes and villages without any fear or threat," he told 
IRIN.

But some returning residents in Panjwayi said they feared that fighting 
could resume.

"We are very afraid . the Taliban will again come to our village and 
there will be fighting again, so we hope the government will take strict 
measures to avoid the infiltration of Taliban in our areas," Khalil 
Ahmad, 43, who returned to his home in Zangawat village in Panjwayi 
district on Monday, told IRIN.

About 16,800 people have returned to Sperwan and Tolokan villages and 
8,400 people to Zangawat in Panjwayi, while about 3, 600 people have 
gone back to Zhari district in recent weeks, according to Khalid.


U N I T E D  N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

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