Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kabul (Agenzia Fides) - In Afghanistan growing instability and insecurity has brought the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons which troubled the country for years back to the surface. After the fall of the Taliban regime Afghan refugees began to return home from various parts of the region under the guidance and supervision of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR.
The refugee agency has expressed concern about the rising number of internally displaced persons as a result of recent hostilities between government forces, NATO and insurgents. Since July, an estimated 15,000 families have been displaced in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Uruzgan and Helmand. This fresh displacement adds new hardship to a population already hosting 116,400 people earlier uprooted by conflict and drought.
UNHCR says the Afghan government has created a Disaster Management Committee in Kandahar to coordinate relief efforts. The committee is working in coordination with the United Nations, led by UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan). UNHCR, together with UNICEF, has distributed non-food items such as plastic sheeting, blankets and warm clothes for children to approximately 3,200 families in Panjwai and Zhare Dasht in Kandahar province. WFP [World Food Programme] is providing food aid..
Afghanistan has one of the highest refugee populations in the world. In 2005 it signed the UN 1951Convention of Refugee Status and relative 1967Protocol. Since the end of 2001, more than 3.5 million Afghans have repatriated from Iran and Pakistan. In 2005 over 400,000 were repatriated and are now re-inserting themselves in the social tissue of their home country.
Catholic agencies involved in assisting Afghan refugees include the Jesuit Refugee Service and a Salesian Community in Quetta province of Pakistan, only 100km from the border with Afghanistan, which runs a number of schools and professional training centres as well as providing assistance for refugees. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 4/10/2006 righe 26 parole 265)
