These deaths, too, did not need to happen. And they were much more
preventable the week before they occurred than the deaths in El Salvador or
India. 
C. Kelly
---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:   IRIN, INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
TO:     (unknown), INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
DATE:   02/01/2001 11:34 AM

RE:     AFGHANISTAN: Bitter cold kills over 100 IDPs in Herat  [2010201]

 






AFGHANISTAN: Bitter cold kills over 100 IDPs in Herat

ISLAMABAD, 1 February (IRIN) - At least 110 displaced Afghans died in the
western city of Herat when temperatures dropped below freezing during the
early morning hours of Tuesday, a UN field officer told IRIN on Wednesday. 

"Temperatures dropped to minus 25 degrees resulting in the deaths of at
least 110 people," Hans-Christian Poulsen, UN Regional Coordination
Officer for western Afghanistan, confirmed from Herat. "Sadly, these
people were mostly children, the elderly and the weak." 

The deaths point to a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where
tens of thousands of Afghans have fled war, drought and hunger in their
home areas. Over 500,000 Afghans have left their homes since the middle of
last year and most are internally displaced within Afghanistan, according
to the office of the UN Coordinator, Erick de Mul. 

At least 30,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) are now located in and
around Herat, and the scale of the problem has sorely tested the ability
of relief agencies to cope. Inadequate shelter, blankets and fuel can be
assumed to have contributed to the high death rate in the displacement
camps in Herat, according to a statement on Wednesday from de Mul's
office. 

"During December and January, the daily influx of IDPs was almost 100
families - or some 500 people - each day; this is becoming extremely
difficult to cope with," Christian Poulsen told IRIN. 

The majority of Tuesday's deaths occurred in Maslak IDP camp, 17 km west
of Herat, which is one of six in the area. Although Maslak was the only
camp in the area not yet filled to capacity, Poulsen described conditions
there as "appalling". 

"I like to focus on the dignity of people and conditions here fall short
of the most basic internationally recognised standards. Even without
sub-zero temperatures to deal with, the conditions in Maslak are
appalling. There are a limited number of wells and latrines, making
conditions unhygienic and particularly poor... the place is undignified
and simply unfit for human beings," he added. 

According to Poulsen, shelter is the main problem for the displaced in
Maslak. Tents usually reserved for a family of six or seven now house
three families. There are 5,000 families - at least 30,000 people- living
in this situation, he said. 

"At the moment, we have 2000 mud-hut shelters which are ready to be handed
over once authorisation from Taliban officials is given. [The Taliban
Islamic Movement controls most of the territory of Afghanistan.] We also
had a delivery of 1,250 tents on Tuesday which will ease the situation
considerably, Poulsen said. 

"However, we still have a shortage of 1,500 shelters just to address
present needs. Given the daily influx of people still coming in, I'm
afraid the shelter situation will be back to square one unless proper
measures are taken immediately." 

Asked what the current requirements were, Poulsen said: "I need
everything... What particularly frustrates me is that this is not a recent
natural disaster but a situation that has gradually grown worse, despite
repeated appeals for more resources." 

In view of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and severe
shortages of non-food items for the displaced, the UN Coordinator, Erick
de Mul, called an emergency meeting of donors to Afghanistan earlier this
month. He asked them to respond immediately to the 2001 Appeal for
Afghanistan, and specifically to provide US $3.5 million for non-food
items including shelter, blankets and clothing; $3.2 million in cash to
complement food for work programmes; and $600,000 for seeds. 

So far, only $200,000 of the $3.5 million requested for non-food items has
been pledged. 

[ENDS]

[IRIN-Asia: Tel +92-51-2211451 Ext 480-4 Fax +92-51-2211450 or
+92-51-2211475; e-mail [log in to unmask]]




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