Cold winter: Ghor IDPs in urgent need of assistance

FIROZKOH (Pajhwok): Lacking food, fuel and a proper place for shelter, displaced families in western Ghor province say they have repeatedly visited government offices for help, but to no avail.

Najia, the mother of one child, whose husband daily leaves home in search of work, told Pajhwok Afghan News said they fled Allahyar village due to the conflict and currently resided in Firozkoh, capital of the province.

Living against a rent of 1,500 afghanis a month, Najia said the house they stayed in was muddy and damp and her husband could hardly earn money. “Some nights we go to beds empty stomach,” she said.

She said the government’s aid was distributed to wealthy people as no one has assisted them so far.

“No one helps us, they distribute the assistance to wealthy people, no one helps poor people, since last six months when we came here, we only received a tarpaulin, a dish and two teapots, no one helped us after that,” she added.

Najia said they had a good life in their village but they were forced by clashes between the Taliban and Afghan forces to leave that area.

Qamar Gul, the mother of four children, who was displaced from Chahar Sada district of Ghor to Firozkoh city, said they were in great trouble after the emergence of coronavirus.

She said her husband would work before the virus but he was currently jobless and they had nothing to eat.

“We have nothing to use it for heating. May husband says he cannot find a job due to coronavirus, we hardly find food nothing else,” she said.

On the other hand, Mohammad Mahdavi, a provincial council member of Ghor, said that despite huge amount of aid coming to Ghor, many people continued to suffer from poverty.

“Lack of management in the distribution of aid is the reason the poor class has to suffer,” he said.

Jumma Khan Bakhtari, director of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Ghor, said that they had the plan to distribute aid to 16,000 internally displaced people and those suffering from poverty in the province this solar year.

He said the program was being implemented in collaboration with some aid organizations and part of the aid was currently being distributed.

“The aid program includes cash money, food items, firewood and clothes”, Bakhtari added.

“We have aid program for 16,000 families, it means that 11,000 families would be assisted by WFP, 2,700 by NDMA, 1,300 by Afghan Aid, 200 by IoM, 300 by ACTED and 500 by the refugees department,” he said.

When asked why the aid was still not distributed, he said, “We agree that people complain, we provide this assistance to IDPs and this program can help these people only for a month, later they again face a similar condition.”

Habibullah Radminsh, deputy governor, also said that the aid was not enough and more than 70 percent of people there lived in extreme poverty and they needed urgent help. He asked aid organizations to assist the needy people in Ghor province.

This comes as the government has also launched its National Food Program in three districts of Ghor province.

mds/ma

Views: 66