Focus on relief for Afghan displaced

The French-based NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Thursday reiterated its call for Iran to facilitate relief distribution to over 2,000 unregistered people outside two camps inside Afghan territory set up by Tehran. With the Mahkaki and Mile 46 camps each holding 5,000 people already, the Iranian Red Crescent remains reluctant to register more people for assistance. The impasse highlights the difficulties relief agencies sometimes face trying to reach Afghan asylum seekers along the Iranian border. "The problem is we are only receiving administrative responses," MSF head of mission in the Iranian capital Tehran, Bruno Jochum told IRIN on Thursday. "Already three children have died and we are worried more will follow," he exclaimed. He added that MSF had requested authorities both in Tehran and at the local level to allow them to distribute food as well as blankets and shelter to the people but had received no reply. Unlike the people inside the camps, those outside had no shelter whatsoever, nor did they receive any food distribution, he explained. Jochum's comments followed a call by MSF on Wednesday for Tehran to remove obstacles to aid operations in the area. According to the statement, the newly displaced had arrived over the past 10 days in the camps four km inside Afghan territory near the town of Zaranj in southwestern Nimruz province. MSF, working in both camps, had requested authorisation to begin distribution of assistance to the newly displaced people, but the Iranian Red Cross had refused to register the new arrivals. Iran currently has well over two million Afghan refugees inside the country. Following 11 September, fearing an additional influx, Tehran closed its 900 km border with Afghanistan, opting to provide assistance at camps inside Afghan territory instead. Mahkaki and Mile 46 are the only such camps operational. On Sunday night, three children, aged one to six died from hunger, cold and exhaustion. Without shelter, these displaced people, some of whom came from regions as far away as the southern province of Kandahar, had resorted to digging holes in the ground in an effort to protect themselves from the sub-zero night temperatures and sandstorms, the NGO maintained. According to Pierre Salignon, MSF director for operations in Iran and Afghanistan, the population is "trapped" inside Afghanistan with no way out and many dangers inside. "Some families who arrive in Mile 46 have walked three months before they reached the camp. They know that they cannot cross the border to Iran but they also know that at least they can receive some assistance. They are so desperate. Every day, some 20 newcomers arrive in these camps by truck, sometimes more. They say that more people are on the way, some walking to the border, some settling on the way, because they are too weak to go further." Jochum added: "The authorities have said they will discuss the situation next week, however this assistance must be provided now." While recognising the efforts the Iranian authorities have made in providing assistance to the refugees and displaced, he maintained limiting these camps to 5,000 people each created a situation where people who needed assistance simply weren't getting it. "We have to face the reality of the situation," he said. "We accept that the Red Crescent sets a limit, but it shouldn't prevent NGOs from providing assistance," he added. Sharing this concern was the British-based NGO, Ockenden International, also working in the area. "We don't understand why these people are not being screened and allowed inside," regional programme manager, Steven Peart in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, told IRIN. Ockenden has been carrying out distribution of mostly non-food relief items in both camps, but requests to distribute to those outside had been blocked and turned down by the Iranian Red Crescent authorities, he explained. "I saw these people and their condition is quite desperate," he noted. But according to Iranian authorities, many of the people outside these camps were actually from nearby villages seeking assistance and such a move could send the wrong message. Additional assistance could be an invitation for more to follow. "In light of the recent changes inside Afghanistan, our policy is to help people resettle in their own homes," director general of the international affairs department at the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Mostafa Mohaghegh in Tehran told IRIN. "These villages are very close to the camps, but as long as there are refugees or displaced in the camps, the Iranian Red Crescent will continue to provide assistance such as shelter, food, health, clothing, etc," he said. Regarding those people outside the camps still awaiting assistance, he maintained that on Wednesday they had contacted NGOs involved offering to facilitate transport of NGO relief items to them, as well as to people in the nearby villages. "We are still waiting for a response, but we hope we can implement an effective relief programme for these people outside the camp," he said. Currently there are unsubstantiated reports that the Iranian government is negotiating with the Nimruz shura, the provincial Afghan governing body, for the establishment of a camp for the internally displaced to be set up in Zaranj. Such a move could allow the Iranians to close one of the two camps they are administering. However, the capacity of the Zaranj authorities to establish such a camp remains minimal and aid workers are deeply concerned over the viability of such a plan. Rumours aside, the plight of those outside the camps remains. UNHCR spokesman in Tehran, Mohammad Nouri told IRIN: "These 2,400 registered people outside the camp are not getting enough assistance and we remain deeply concerned over their welfare. Additionally, security in the area remains dubious, greatly hampering aid workers' ability to access those in need," he added. Meanwhile, UNHCR recorded the largest number of spontaneous returnees made their way back to Afghanistan from Iran on Wednesday. According to the agency, 1,989 individuals made their way back, bringing the total number of spontaneous returnees since 12 November from Iran to some 24,000 individuals. Most of the returnees went to the western city of Herat. However, some were from as far away as the northern province of Badakshan. Spontaneous returnees do not receive any direct assistance from UNHCR or the government of Iran. However, the government does facilitate their travel in terms of documentation, etc. "More people are now returning after the collapse of the Taliban," Nouri said. "They want to see what is happening after the recent dramatic developments inside Afghanistan," he explained. He noted that recent returnees were carrying more luggage than earlier indicating a strong desire to remain in the country rather than return to Iran.