Thousands of returnees start to rebuild lives

Thousands of internally displaced people, formally living in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley are now trying to rebuild their lives on the Shomali Plains, 15 km outside the capital Kabul, following the fall of the Taliban. "Many fled the area four to five years ago in fear of the Taliban as they are of Tajik ethnic origin, the same ethnic background of the opposition," Panjshir Valley and Shomali Plains coordinator for the French NGO ACTED, Sherine Zaghow told IRIN on Thursday. The Taliban had moved onto the Shomali Plains soon after they had taken control of much of the country. However, following the US-led bombing in the area, which drove them out, ACTED established that families originally from the area wanted to return. Since 31 December, together with assistance from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and monitoring by the UN's refuge agency UNHCR, ACTED has helped some 1,800 families return from the Panjshir Valley to the Shomali plains. "There are another 400 families remaining who want to return here," she explained. Despite homes in ruins, land mines from years of civil war and unexploded ordnance from US-led bombing, the returnees said they were glad to be back in their home villages.

"A small child amongst the arrivals"

"I'm planning to rebuild my house and I will try and continue my work as a farmer," Biland Khan, who returned to Karabagh district of the plains at the end of December, told IRIN on Thursday. It had been four years since he and his eight-member family left the area to live in the Panjshir Valley in fear of the Taliban. Biland may have a tough time farming, the land on the plains has been affected by the country's ongoing drought, destroying trees and crops, and making further agricultural work very difficult. On the plus side, Zaghow said that demining teams had identified danger zones and that returnees had been informed about this. Returnees are temporarily living in winterised tents to protect them from the harsh winter conditions and many said they were excited at the fact that they could rebuild their lives without living in fear of the Taliban. Once on the Shomali Plains, the formally displaced Afghans are given a tent, 100 kg of firewood, 140 kg of coal, kitchen kits and jerry cans. The French NGO had also distributed food to the returnees a few weeks before they left the valley. "We distributed lentils, sugar and oil to the displaced in Panjshir in December and it should last them three months," Zaghow said. The returnees would also be given shelter kits to help them rebuild their homes. "This will enable them to build at least an emergency shelter room and then they can start to build other rooms in time," she added, saying that most would begin construction work in a few weeks time after settling into the area. According to an ACTED survey carried out in November 2001, there were some 3,477 displaced Afghans from the Shomali Plains, living in the Panjshir valley. Meanwhile, returnees are adamant they want to rebuild their lives in their home villages. "We have been waiting so long to come home and we are not going to leave now," mother-of-five Nafiza, told IRIN. She added that her husband had also been injured during their stay in the Panjshir Valley due to fighting there between the Taliban and opposition Northern Alliance forces. "We hope and pray for peace now. We just want to get on with our lives and be happy," she said.