Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 17:31:41 +0300 (BEAUT)
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Subject: AFGHANISTAN: Displaced Afghans dying of cold and hunger [2010305]
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AFGHANISTAN: Displaced Afghans dying of cold and hunger

ISLAMABAD, 5 March (IRIN) - The office of the UN Coordinator for
Afghanistan confirmed on Friday that more than 260 people in northern
Afghanistan had died of cold and hunger as conditions within displacement
camps continued to deteriorate.

It said an estimated 117,000 people were living in miserable conditions as
a result of drought, civil war, or a combination of both in northern
areas.

Although assessments of the area have been limited, northern parts of the
country, including the northern provinces of Faryab, Jowzjan, Balkh,
Samangan and Saripul, are particularly affected, according to the UN. 

A recent assessment of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in various
small camps and settlements in the northern provinces of Kunduz and
Baghlan indicated that over 200 people had died due to cold and hunger
following a cold spell in the area, according to the UN. 

The deceased were predominately children and elderly people among some
23,000 IDPs in 16 camps in Baghlan. Local authorities had tried to
accommodate the displaced in abandoned public buildings since their
arrival last autumn. However, recent arrivals have been forced to live in
overcrowded makeshift camps where poor sanitation, disease and cold, as
well as a lack of safe drinking water, continue to take their toll.

In Kunduz, 60 people out of some 8,000 assessed were confirmed to have
died from exposure. Given difficulties in assessing the situation, the
death toll could be higher, according to the UN. Some 27,000 people IDPs
were living in another 30 camps in the area, the UN stated. 

"It's too soon to say whether the situation is escalating or not. There
are a number of food for work projects targeting the IDP population in the
pipeline which would definitely make a difference in terms of food stock
available to this group," aid UN resident coordinating officer for the
northern regions, Farhana Faruqi, told IRIN on Monday. 

"I don't expect cold to be a major factor at this point in time but lack
of food will continue to be a problem for the IDPs living in the area,"
she said. 

The UN estimates that up to 600,000 Afghans have been displaced or been
made refugees last year and this year to date.

Following his recent mission to Afghanistan and Pakistan, UN Emergency
Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima said about one million Afghans were at
risk of famine. Without the prompt delivery of aid, he said, a
humanitarian catastrophe could ensue. 

[ENDS]

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