Conflict over, but many refugees still 'lost'


	February 23, 2002	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Conflict over, but many refugees still 'lost'
By Muddassir Rizvi

ISLAMABAD - The Jallozai refugee camp in western Pakistan, dubbed the "death camp" because of its harsh conditions, is now deserted after its occupants were moved in the wake of the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. But the misery of these refugees, who were transferred to six new campsites in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) closer to the Afghan border, is far from over.

Some complain about their division into ethnic groups after Jallozai, others complain of hostility from locals, and yet others say that the living conditions are even worse than they were at Jallozai. "The living space is smaller, winter is harsher, there is less water, and there is no employment for refugees even at the camp," says Abdul Malook, who is from the northern Kunduz province in Afghanistan and who has been transferred to Bajaur agency in Pakistan's tribal belt.

Malook says food items are also very expensive in local markets. "A kilogram of meat that was Rs45 [75 US cents] in Jallozai costs Rs70 rupees in Bajaur. Similarly, a kilogram of tomatoes was Rs5-6 in Jallozai, but is Rs20 in Bajaur."

He said that the medical facilities at the camp are limited - and that "outside, there are more quacks than real doctors". At one clinic, he recalled, the "so-called doctor" prescribed medicines that turned out to have expired.

Most disturbing for refugees is the fact that they are grappling with the lack of informal jobs either at the camp or outside - something they could at least do in Jallozai, which sprang up toward the end of 2000 as people fled conflict and drought in Afghanistan. The local Pakistani tribes in NFWP say that where the refugees are now being housed is their land, so they should get the employment and not the refugees.

At Jallozai, almost all refugees would do odd jobs at the nearby bazaar or at the camp to earn some money to add to the inadequate United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rations. These were composed of 40kg of wheat flour, five kilos of lentils and five kilos of vegetable oil per family per month. "Since we can't find any jobs here, it appears we have to stretch our supplies for the entire month. We just have to eat less," commented Dar Mohammad, from Mazar-e-Sharif. "I don't know how my family of nine will survive with the UNHCR rations."

Jallozai itself was far was ideal, yet by the time the refugees were moved in January, many felt they were not ready to leave, citing one reason or another. A makeshift camp of more than 80,000 refugees, Jallozai soon become an eyesore for the United Nations and aid agencies, which found it difficult to provide even the most basic facilities such as food and medicines on site.

The unofficial camp had become a site of tremendous hardship for refugees, where, according to the UNHCR, many succumbed to the winter cold and the stifling heat waves of 2001 because of a lack of suitable shelter and adequate sanitation facilities. "I will not go to the new camp, but settle with my relatives in the [nearby] old Jallozai camp," said Gul Jana, whose camp was the last to be dismantled last week at a ceremony attended by officials of the UNHCR and Pakistani government.

Gul Jana, whose husband has been missing for the past three years and who lived at Jallozai with her 14-year-old son, said she would not go to a new camp in a Pakistani tribal agency because she would be all alone without the social network she has knitted for herself in Jallozai and surrounding camps. Others say the ethnic criteria that the UNHCR and the Pakistani government adopted for relocating the Afghans from Jallozai would only exacerbate ethnic divisions.

The Pashtun-speaking refugees have been moved to a new campsite in Kotkai in tribal Bajaur agency bordering Afghanistan, while Persian-speaking refugees have been sent to tribal Kurram and Khyber agencies. "We all are brothers. This policy is dividing the Afghan people. We don't want to live separately. This segregation is detrimental to us and is a reminder of our traditional ethnic-based enmities," said Mohammad Anwar, a Persian-speaking refugee from Mazar-e-Sharif who has been moved to Shalman camp in Kurram agency.

Lal Mohammad, a Pashtun-speaking refugee from Baghlan province, agrees. "I didn't want to come to Bajaur. I was not ready to go anywhere on the basis of ethnic division. I didn't want to be part of any plan that divides the Afghan people on ethnic lines." Mohammad has been moved to Kotkai camp in Bajaur agency.

Some refugees also say that the local Pakistani Bajaur people who work as camp staff are not distributing the donations among refugees and are giving away these donations to the local people, who are also very poor. "Local people either steal the donations of blankets, cooking oil, warm clothes, etc or replace them with locally available cheap fruits or just junk," said Torabaz, from Afghanistan's Kunduz province.

Torabaz added that the camp's local staff do not allow interaction of the refugees with people coming from outside, such as the press. "I think they do it because they do not want the refugees to be complaining about their suffering. We feel that if we raised our voice against these local people, we'll face a severe backlash at the hands of the locals, who are also Pashtun-speaking people," he said.

However, the UNHCR and the Pakistani government officials appear to be satisfied with the arrangements at the new campsites. "All basic facilities are available at the new camps. We are completely satisfied by the arrangements made by the UNHCR," commented Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, who deals with refugee affairs on behalf of the Pakistani government.

In fact, the UNHCR is now planning to move a larger number of homeless Afghans from in and around Peshawar city. A UNHCR spokesperson said that agency staff in Peshawar have actually noted an increase in the numbers of people registering for relocation to the new border camps. "This indicates that word from Afghans in the new camps is trickling back to Peshawar's refugee community, and that most families are satisfied with conditions in the new sites," he said.

Some relief agencies, however, believe that more needs to be done at the new camps, especially with regard to medical facilities. "We are planning to provide secondary health-care services for women and children in camps in Kurram and Khyber agencies, because we believe that the sickest of the sick are left unattended by primary health cover provided by the UNHCR," said Dr Asad Hafeez, general secretary of Child Advocacy International, which works for refugee health care.

"Unlike in Jallozai, where secondary-care hospitals were in close proximity, the new camps are in far-off areas and the sickest people might not be able to make it in time when they need it," he said.

(Inter Press Service)