Last Sunday (22 June) representatives of the Ministries of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), Public Health (MoPH), the Governor's Office and the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) went from Kunduz to assess the situation in Aseef. As feedback was difficult due the inaccessibility of the area, UNAMA's sub-office in Faizabad also sent a back up mission last Thursday (26 June) to help review this situation.

So far 30 tents have been given to affected families and medical assistance provided by the ARCS. The seriously affected families have lost almost everything they had including all their food. The village is very difficult to reach by road since there is a river to be crossed and it has no bridges. One has to walk across the river if it is low enough as it is impassable by vehicle. Once across the river it is a two-hour walk to the village, which sits between a mountain and a river.

Apart from the need for the worst affected victims to rebuild and restock their houses, the immediate needs such as food and non-food items (NFIs) in particular household items and clothing, will be needed for the badly affected. With over 26 per cent of the houses destroyed and about 49 per cent of total housing stock either damaged or destroyed, this problem is beyond the affected community. Local Government departments, the United Nations, ARCS and NGOS are currently mobilizing relief assistance that will provided from the provincial office via UN agencies, NGOS, and the ARCS.

We will provide you with more updates as they become available.

Although it is now reported that the fighting has stopped and that both sides have pulled back to their respective positions, there are conflicting versions from both factions about the cause of the clashes. The mission will therefore verify reports of fighting, ascertain the causes and attempt to resolve the more immediate issues as well as reduce tensions. The delegation is currently at UNAMA's Office in Mazar and is expected to leave from there today for the three villages and return tomorrow.

At the last briefing we told you that a follow-up mission of the Security Commission should have left for Sholgara today to talk with local shuras in Charkhab and Quzil Qent and help mediate some issues. This mission has now been postponed due to the more pressing need to send a delegation to Dar-i-Suf.

Planning has already started for the survey which will take at least fourteen months. It is expected that the teams will start going out into the communities in September.

The survey is being managed by the non-governmental organization, Survey Action Centre, and will be carried out in Afghanistan by the Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), one of the NGOs working with the United Nations Mine Action Centre (UNMACA).

The survey will assess the impact of landmines on different communities so that the prioritizing of demining work can be improved. Although there is information about where there are landmines and unexploded ordinance in Afghanistan, this survey will deepen this knowledge and enable the demining to target the most needy areas and communities first. This is very important in a country where it is estimated that demining work will take at least ten years. Last year more than 27,000 square kilometers of minefield and around 76,000 square kilometers of battlefield area were cleared of mines and explosives remnants of war.

The survey teams will assess the impact of landmines on each community surveyed. They will use a scoring system to measure whether the impact of landmines on the community is high, medium or low. The indicators include such information as whether there have been landmine accidents in the area, the location of minefields near wells, schools or other vital buildings; if there are roads that cannot be used because of landmines or if farmland is affected.

The questionnaires are also available in the Commission's various offices in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran for those people who were unable to participate in the public consultation process. In addition, it was published in local newspapers last week and will soon be posted on the Commission's website due to be launched next week.

The questionnaire is one of the mechanisms of the Commission that will enable its members to get the views of Afghans on the constitution.

Voluntary movement from Chaman waiting area
Following an agreement reached with the Pakistani government a month ago, UNHCR will begin tomorrow the voluntary relocation of Afghans stuck at the Chaman waiting area. The plan is to move 100 families per day, at least three movements per week, from Chaman to Zhare Dasht. This is a breakthrough development providing temporary solutions to the displaced people who have been living in a precarious situation at the border areas since late 2001.

Around 2,360 families (10,800 people) have requested the move to Zhare Dasht - more than initially expected - following several discussions held between the authorities of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the displaced Afghans about the moves, as well as the elders' visits to alternative sites of Zhare Dasht and Mohammad Kheil. Another 1,700 families (8,000 people) have requested the move to Mohammad Kheil. The total number of Afghans staying at Chaman crossing point is 4,070 families (18,700 people).

The transportation is arranged by our Pakistan office in Chaman. Our Kandahar staff, with security escort, will meet them at Spin Boldak to accompany the convoy up to Zhare Dasht, where the families will receive $3 per person, food packages (wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, sugar and salt), household items (blanket, sleeping mat, jerry can, bucket, lantern, soap, hygiene items, stove and kerosene) and shelter packages to help them construct their houses (wheel barrow, tool kit, plastic sheet, bamboo and plastic pipes).

The spontaneous settlement at the border has been a security concern for all parties since end 2001. When relocation to Zhare Dasht was first offered to the displaced families last summer, about 1,750 families (7,600 people) had moved to Zhare Dasht. With the Pakistani Government agreeing in May to relocate them inside Pakistan, the refugees have been given the option either to return to their homes, relocate to Zhare Dasht inside Afghanistan or to move to Mohammed Kheil camp in Pakistan. Those who still choose to remain at Chaman will be considered as illegal migrants and will no longer be eligible for assistance.

IDP figures
UNHCR offices in all regions are engaged in a profiling survey of internally displaced people throughout the country. The new results show that there are about 250,000 internally displaced people who are of concern to UNHCR, mainly living in camp-like situations and are in need of assistance and/or protection. We might call them the "active caseload" of the displaced population in need.

The largest concentration of displacement is still in the south, with over 115,000 displaced people in settlements or camps, in need of assistance. But what were once massive camps in the west near Herat are now rapidly emptying, with continuing voluntary return or relocation movements from Shadayee and Maslakh camps and elsewhere.

[Breakdown by regions: south (115,000) north (43,000), west (38,000), central (16,000), east (5,500), southeast (4,000).]

Of course, there are many others who may be out of their own villages of origin and may be considered as internally displaced in a broader term. But most of these individual families are now more or less integrated in local communities. UNHCR has assisted 28,000 internally displaced people to return home this year, which brings the total assisted returns to about 280,000 since last year, and at least another 300,000 displaced people are estimated to have returned on their own.

Report launch on impact of conflict on children in Afghanistan
Afghan children and their families have shown amazing resilience in the face of the ills of war, according to a new report to be published on 1 July by UNICEF and Save the Children. The report urges that it is upon such coping mechanisms that the government and other partners need to build in order to address the psycho-social needs of children in Afghanistan.

The report will be launched on Tuesday at 8.30am at the Khyber Hotel in Kabul.

Members of accredited media organizations are invited to attend a briefing at the above time/venue, during which the report will be made available in both complete and executive-summary formats. The report's author Dr. Jo de Berry, of Save the Children-US, and representatives from UNICEF-Afghanistan will present remarks and be available for questions. The briefing will be preceded by remarks by H.E. Minister of Rural Reconstruction and Development Hanif Atmar. Following the briefing will be a workshop on technical issues. UNICEF-Afghanistan will also organize field visits to project sites for media related to the report's publication.

The report is based on more than a year's research with over 600 children and their families living in Kabul. The study looks at the threats to the well-being of children in a war-ravaged country like Afghanistan, and the ability of families to cope with the problems they face.

Questions and Answers

Question: Does UNHCR share the concerns of Amnesty International regarding the repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan?

UNHCR: Yes we are obviously aware of the report. [There are] some parts of it which we don't agree with, I think in some parts it was unfortunate that information was not thorough. What we are right now doing is preparing a letter in response to that report.

Question: Is there any word on casualties in this fighting in the north?

Spokesman: No.

Question: This mission returns tomorrow, will you have any more information then?

Spokesman: We might, we will follow up and you can call us tomorrow, call David [Singh] he covers the north, he will be following up with them.