KABUL, 5 January 2009 (IRIN): Azizullah’s family left their home in the Sangin District of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, because of the worsening conflict, drought and food security situation.
Their new home is a one-room mud-hut in the western outskirts of Kabul where over 4.500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have established a makeshift camp.
– We abandoned our home because of aerial strikes [by international forces] and brutalities by the Taliban, Azizullah told IRIN as his six bare-foot children huddled around him on a cold afternoon on 28 December.
– Because of the conflict I could not work and my children had nothing to eat… We have come here to live in peace and receive some assistance, he said.
The Ministry of Refugees and Returnees (MoRR) said about 770 IDP families (about 4.620 people) were living in the Charahi Qambar area of Kabul.
More than 200 families have sought refuge in the informal camp from the southern provinces of Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan, according to camp residents. The camp is home to dozens of impoverished Kuchis (nomads), vulnerable returnees from Pakistan and conflict-affected households from different parts of the country.
Most IDPs in the camp said they had hardly anything to eat and lacked access to safe drinking water and medical care. Lack of shelter and the inability to keep warm in the winter were also cited as major problems.
Some survive on donations and support from sympathising local residents. “Sometimes people give us meals,” said Abdul Hakim, a 12-year-old IDP.
Local media reported that a woman had died in the camp on 3 January due to the cold.
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