‘70,000 families in Baghlan need immediate assistance’

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Refugee and repatriation officials in northern Baghlan province on Sunday said aid agencies in the province were distributing aid without coordination with them.

On the other hand, aid agencies’ officials denied the allegations, saying they are helping the poorest families.

MulaviShahzada Khalid, director of Baghlan Refugees and Repatriation Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that aid agencies in the province were not coordinating with them and the agencies were distributing aid to people they wanted.

He says they have compiled a list of 70,000 families in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

"We have handed over the lists of 18,000 people to these aid agencies, but not a single family has been helped, these agencies make arbitrary actions and assist people who they want,” he said.

Khalid said he had shared the issue with officials in Kabul, who told him the problem would be resolved in new year.

On the other hand, Karimullah Hotak, a representative of World Food Program (WFP) in Baghlan, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the organization had so far provided assistance to 29,000 needy families in Baghlan.

He said they were coordinating with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations and they could not implement their programs without coordination with the ministry.

"There is no security problem. Our people are visiting villages and they identify the poorest families with the help of local elders,” he said.

Talib Khan, head of ACTED organization in Baghlan, said he was cooperating with the Refugees and Repatriation Department of the province to ensure that aid was distributed in a transparent manner.

He said they had so far provided cash assistance to 560 displaced families and a survey to identify 700 more needy families for aid was currently underway in the province.

Bashir Khan, a resident of DandGhori area of ​​Baghlan province, said, "A survey team came to our village a month ago. They wrote my identity, they called me a month later and gave me flour, cooking oil and some other things, but I do not know who distributed the assistance.”

In addition to the mentioned organizations in Baghlan, the Afghan Red Crescent Society has also provided food aid to 1,200 poor families in the province.

Mds/ma