Afghan Local Displacement Families Faced with Problem

About 500,000 Afghans displaced by war are struggling to survive in camps, where they have been living for years.

Amnesty International says they are not getting enough attention from the government and international donors.

Each winter there are reports of children dying in the harsh conditions in the camps around the capital Kabul.

These people are too frightened to go home.

They are from Southern war-torn provinces such as Helmand and Urozgan.

Their homes are the battle ground for the Taliban and Afghan foreign forces for the past nine years.

Rozee Khan is amongst the hundreds of thousands who now call this camp home.

“Because of war, violence and Taliban threats to me, I had to leave my home. My life was very bad there. I lost everything; 12 members of my family, home and everything. 12 of my family members died during the war between Taliban and foreigners now I am with my one remaining child. We live here with our relatives. No one helps us and hears my voice.”

There are four camps like this one in the capital of Kabul. It’s winter now and it’s bitterly cold.

Today a businessman has donated some coal so there is some relief... but it’s a rare event says Naaz Bi Bi.

“Our life situation is very bad, in this cold weather we live on water and muds under these tents. We don’t have fuel to burn and warm our tents also we don’t have enough thing to eat as well: rice, flour, oil and blankets. As you see our life is like this. Right now I want to go outside and find something to get warm my tent.”

These families want food and fuel from the Afghan government. They are also asking for shelter…

“Government must help us during this cold winter.  We want them to give us a shelter.  Because of the cold our children are becoming sick and are even freezing to death.”

Many of the displaced people have given up hope of ever returning home and are asking for land. But the Emigration Ministry spokesperson Islamudin Joorat says they can’t do that.

“We don’t want to give land to people who have come from other provinces for many reasons. For those who have been displaced for more than two years we can give them land for building a house in their home province.”

For now the families are stuck in the camps. These children face an uncertain future.

“I want to go to school but I can’t because I need notebooks, books and … but I can’t get it, it needs money, we don’t have school as well, if I have these facilities I can go to school.”

“We don’t have school, we don’t have any things that we need.”