As Temperatures Drop, Afghans Await Aid

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

November 2, 2001 — With temperatures already dipping below zero in Afghanistan's central highlands, urgency is growing to deliver food, shelter and warm clothes to thousands of refugees displaced by years of civil war, drought and the current bombing. Dozens of humanitarian organizations are scrambling to send aid into the devastated country.

While some Afghan refugees have trickled out of the country to bordering nations, millions remain without a means to survive the country's brutal winter, only a few weeks away. Security concerns arising since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks forced most aid workers once working inside the country to leave. The predicament left millions -- dependent on aid as a result of ongoing war and drought -- in a desperate situation.

The United Nations reports that as many as 180,000 Afghans have fled their homes to other, safer areas inside the country since Sept. 11. The newly displaced add to an already severe problem inside the warring country. Humanitarian groups estimate more than 6 million Afghans could be stranded inside the country without access to adequate food or shelter.

Aid workers are particularly concerned that people are leaving the warmth of their homes so close to winter, increasing the risks of deaths to cold. In Herat alone, more than 50,000 people are without adequate shelter, according to a survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in early October.

Aid agencies also are eyeing the situation along Afghanistan's borders, where the displaced are starting to swarm. Near Iran's southwestern border, the Iranian Red Crescent has set up a camp to help some 1,500 refugees in Mahkaki.

In addition, some 65,000 Afghan refugees have crossed into Pakistan since Sept. 11, despite the insistence of authorities that the country can't accommodate any more. In one instance, about 6,000 Afghan refugees forced their way through the Chaman checkpoint into western Pakistan despite warning shots from border security guards. Reports of refugees waiting on the Afghan side of the border to enter Pakistan range between several hundred to 15,000.

Even before the bombings, conditions in Afghanistan forced millions into Pakistan and Iran. Barely able to support current refugee populations, the countries have closed their borders to another massive influx. There are nearly 3.5 million refugees in the region - about 2 million in Pakistan and up to 1.5 million in Iran, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, increased insecurity is making it more and more difficult for relief agencies to bring aid into Afghanistan. A breakdown of law and order in the midst of the bombing has led to looting of relief warehouses and crimes against aid workers. Doctors Without Borders suspended its work in six Afghan provinces after several of its compounds were looted. UNICEF has postponed the desperately needed delivery of 13,000 blankets to Herat because of security risks.

The American Red Cross is positioning aid and relief workers along Afghanistan's borders, ready to supply refugee camps should more Afghans arrive or to help displaced people inside the beleaguered nation. "There are not many international aid workers in Afghanistan so we've positioned our people and supplies in a ring around Afghanistan," said Geno Teofilo, an American Red Cross delegate in Uzbekistan.

Money raised through America's Fund for Afghan Children, a special fund created by President Bush, is supporting American Red Cross programs for young Afghan refugees. The donations by American children will help Afghan children survive the harsh conditions. So far the fund has garnered just over $1 million.

The American Red Cross is working with other relief organizations to bring winter clothes, blankets, shelter, clean water and medicines to the displaced – both to those still in Afghanistan and those in neighboring countries. Winter clothes will be distributed through several channels including UNICEF and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. Medical tents complete with supplies, purchased by the American Red Cross and staffed by Pakistani Red Crescent doctors and nurses, will be set up near the border and in rural areas. In Iran, the Red Crescent is drilling wells and trucking in water for the thousands of people living in refugee camps there.