UNHCR awaits government response on endangered Afghans

UNHCR is still awaiting a formal reply from Tajik officials on the fate of thousands of Afghans stranded on two islands in the Pyandj River on the Tajik-Afghan border, UN officials in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, told IRIN on Wednesday. Despite reports that the government would not allow the Afghans to enter Tajikistan, UNHCR head of office Taslimur Rahman stated: "We have not received a written formal reply from the government... I understand from the government that the matter is still open for discussion and still under consideration." Regarding UNHCR's continued efforts on the Tajik government to accept these people, Rahman said: "We are asking [for] their decision as soon as possible." According to a UNHCR announcement on Monday, the Afghans - including more than 6,000 children- have been living there for several months after fleeing in the face of the Taliban advance in northern Afghanistan. For many, their only shelter has been holes in the ground covered with flimsy roofs made of reeds. Many are also within range of artillery on the Afghan side of the river. Sporadic shelling and a number of shootings have been reported. At least 41 people are thought to have died since October from disease or war wounds, the announcement said. Due to security concerns, access to the area has been limited. Meanwhile, UN humanitarian affairs officer Abdul Haq Amiri in Dushanbe confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday that some aid was actually getting through. "Today an inter-agency mission led by UNHCR has gone to the area to visit both islands today and tomorrow to distribute non-food relief items," he said. It is estimated that 80 percent of the population of the two islands will benefit from the distribution.