Interview with Ockenden International NGO

With unconfirmed reports of population movements in western Afghanistan, there is concern over the situation of new population movements on the part of those who have already been displaced due to the ongoing severe drought. Ockenden International, a British NGO, which has been concentrating its relief efforts in the western region since 1995, reported that 10 percent of the population had left the Maslaq camp in the western province of Herat, which houses 200,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The Afghans are said to have fled the camp in fear of the US-led air strikes. The NGO is managing to continue its programmes with more than 100 national staff inside Afghanistan, and has also reported an exodus of Afghans towards the Iranian border. The Asia programme manager for Ockenden International, Stephen Peart, told IRIN that although the numbers were not enormous, there could be a build-up of a large number of Afghans in the camps near the Iranian border as winter approaches. QUESTION: How are you operating programmes in Afghanistan at the moment? ANSWER: We have managed to keep all our existing offices open and functioning, and the programmes are ongoing and we are also opening up an office in the southern Nimruz Province. Over the winter, we are expecting to substantially increase our food-assistance programmes, be that to drought-affected populations or to IDPs [plus] a non-food distribution programme in parallel, [comprising] essential relief, tents, blankets, jerry cans etc, targeted not necessarily at those who've moved to IDP camps, but [also] those who get stuck [and] those people who are in transit. We've heard a lot about people fleeing Kabul [in the east and] Kandahar [in the southeast], and heading to places in the central province of Ghazni, and getting stuck in rural areas, and what we are hoping to do is identify where these people are and provide them with the essential requirements for life over the winter. Our third major initiative - [starting] in a couple of months - involves seed distribution, trying to kick-start agricultural production in the western provinces of Badghis, Herat and, to a lesser extent, in Ghazni, because the food security situation is very poor. But, unless we get the agricultural sector moving again, it will remain very poor. It is not just an issue of winter; it is an issue of food deficit - full stop - and farmers, come spring, need to be planting, so Afghanistan is not totally reliant on vast quantities of food aid. Q: When are you planning to distribute seed, and is it safe for them to plant? A: The next planting season is in February. The procurement would take place in late November, December. We intend to procure in Iran, and then we go to villages to get it to places like Badghis, Herat and Ghazni in order for it to be distributed in February and be planted. I think with any distribution at the moment we have to be concerned about security, but we have received assurances from the authorities in Herat, Ghazni and Badghis, and they are fully supportive of our operations. Whilst I think they cannot guarantee our security at the moment, they are trying to allow us to function. Obviously, we are not going to send in a huge amount of assets into Afghanistan, but by trickling them in discreetly, we will be able to get the materials [in] in time for the planting season. We would back NGOs' call for a pause in the bombing. Given the onset of winter, there really isn't much time left. Q: Would you consider calling for safe response zones? A: We would like to see the whole of Afghanistan safe, and creating safe havens creates different dynamics and problems that really need to be thought out, and we really need to look at the experience of other countries of these kinds of safe havens before we push for that. Guaranteeing the safety of the safe havens has been a problem in other countries. The best place to deliver assistance to people is in their homes, and not to push them into displacement, creating the zones, and big IDP camps like the one in Herat, which created a whole range of additional humanitarian problems as a consequence, and again I think that also needs to be considered. Q: What is the situation of Afghans in western Afghanistan, in particular the Maslaq camp for IDPs? A: We have heard that 10 percent of the population of Maslaq has left the camp; whether they've gone back to Badghis or back to houses in Herat we're not sure. There are reports that the Taliban have put tanks near the camp, presumably because they think the Americans won't bomb the tanks, but obviously the people inside the camps are concerned that they will bomb the tanks and miss, so that's got something to do with it. I think there are population movements in and out of the cities. Initially after 11 September, a lot of people left Herat thinking there would be an immediate response. They've since drifted back, and when the Americans did start bombing, Herat wasn't targeted initially, and I think people have remained there. But in the last few weeks we've seen attacks in and around Herat, and I suspect a lot of people are now again moving to rural areas. Q: Ockenden is one of the very few NGO's able to work with Afghans in Iran. What are your operations like in Iran? A: We have been operational in Iran since 1997, and I think having had that experience of three or four years in Iran has been very much a learning process for us and the Iranian government as to how international NGOs operate and function. I think this time has really helped to strengthen our ability to respond to the crisis on that side. They know and, to a certain extent, trust us and respect us. We are getting decisions made very quickly, and the Iranian government has been very supportive of our operations, and has gone out of its way to be supportive, which is something we are delighted with. The Iranian government is as concerned as we are about the Afghan situation both in Afghanistan and in the refugee camps, so they are being very helpful. Q: What is the refugee situation at the Iranian border with Afghanistan? A: We are setting up programmes to assist refugee camps along the border, and having [had] three or four weeks of absolutely nothing happening, we can now see populations [moving] towards these camps. There isn't a huge influx, but what we think will happen is that there is going to be a steady flow over the winter into these camps. We have figures for the camps. Two camps are about two to five kilometres in Afghanistan [from the border with Iran]. One camp has 6,000 people, the other has about 1,000, and 150 families are turning up every day at one of the camps. Now, that is not an enormous influx, but if that remains constant you are going to have a large population in these camps, and these people are coming from Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. Q: Do you think enough assistance is getting into western Afghanistan? A: I think a significant amount of assistance has been planned. What we need is finalisation and implementation. Obviously we are all faced with an extremely fluid situation, and plans made on Monday may not be relevant on Wednesday. But I certainly think there is the capacity within western Afghanistan, not just with Ockenden, but for the international aid community to respond to the needs of the humanitarian situation there. But it is a question of getting ourselves organised, getting ourselves to agree on what is going to happen and when. Q: Do you think it is a good idea to have these camps on the Afghan side rather than the Iranian side? A: Obviously it would be far more satisfactory if first of all people didn't feel they had to move to camps and have assistance inside Afghanistan and in their homes; that is actually the priority. If people do have to become displaced, I think in terms of security and in terms of ability to deliver, it would be far better if the camps were inside Iran. But it is no secret [that] the Iranian government is set against [it]. I was in Tehran last week, and you really don't see any movement on that from the Iranian government at all. There have been discussions as to whether camps should be set up just inside Afghanistan or in no-man's-land, and I think the Iranians are shifting towards the idea of no-man's-land. But I don't see any substantial change in policy from the Iranian government - which we regret - but our ability to influence the Iranian government has been marginal.