Record influx of internal refugees into Herat

As summer fast approaches, the UN is becoming increasingly concerned over the growing influx of internally displaced people (IDPs) into the northwesternwestern city of Herat.
Between 300 and 400 families are arriving daily, the highest number ever, a UN official told IRIN. “My main concern is that the outside world might think this is business as usual,” the UN regional coordination officer for western Afghanistan, Hans-Christian Poulsen, said. “However, the situation is going from bad to worse.”

According to Poulsen, during the first week of April, the daily influx of refugees was on average 225 families, but that figure has now risen to between 300 and 400 families. On 9 April alone, 349 families arrived in the impoverished city. The main reason for this influx was because the spring planting season was ending, and those who had been unable to take advantage of it were opting to leave their villages, Poulsen said. “It is likely the influx will continue in the coming month, though at a slightly lower level than the present influx, which is beyond anything previously experienced during the crisis.”

Poulsen’s comments follow a report by the UN Coordinator for Afghanistan on 6 April, stating that since June 2000, as many as 700,000 Afghans had left their homes because of drought, conflict, or a combination of both.
The majority of them remained internally displaced within Afghanistan. There are an estimated 120,000 IDPs living in just one of the six camps in Herat, with 1,000 individuals arriving each day, sorely testing the ability of aid agencies to provide adequate assistance.
The aid community in Herat is able to cope with housing and feeding the IDPs, but, as Poulsen pointed out, “We are dependent on continuous support from donor countries.”

Sanitary conditions, especially in Maslakh camp, where almost 80,000 people are living, is particularly poor. Although some 1,200 latrines are under construction, there will still be a shortfall of 2,000 latrines in this camp alone. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is seriously concerned over the risk of epidemics.

Poulsen said there was also an “urgent” need for more wells. There are less than 100 wells in Maslakh. Further compounding the problem, in many drought-affected areas, the water in the wells is fast becoming unfit for human and animal consumption due to increased salt content, he said.

According to the UN, registration of arrivals is under way in the camps, which will enable officials to determine the specific rural areas and districts from which the families are fleeing. Further information is needed, however, on the nutritional status of new arrivals and of those who remain in the rural areas in order to target assistance most effectively.
Large numbers of drought-affected families are clearly suffering severe hardship. “When I ask people in the camps why some people leave a village, while others stay, they tell me that those who stay behind can’t afford the cost of transport to get out,” the UN regional coordinator said. Increased food distribution carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP) had, however, been successful in stemming the flow of hungry people, he added.

As summer temperatures climb, the prognosis for the IDPs in Herat remains bleak. “The areas which were most severely affected by the drought last year have received even less rain this winter,” Poulsen said. “Right now, tens of thousands of already exhausted families are losing hope for a better future.”

The Office of the UN Coordinator for Afghanistan maintains that, given the scale of need both in the camps and in rural parts of western Afghanistan, the aid community will have to continue providing assistance at current or higher levels for at least the next 12 months.