Jawzjan IDPs in need of help

Monitoring Desk

SHIBERGHAN: Internally displaced families in northern Jawzjan province are complaining they lack food and firewood and fear a large number of their children and women may die of cold if the government does not pay attention.

Ghulam Hussain, who along with his family fled Darzab district and migrated to Shiberghan, the provincial capital, due to clashes between Taliban and Daesh, said they are in a bad situation.

“I live with my family in a tent without having a smallest life facility, the cold weather is seriously harassing us,” he said.

He said a number of children and women could die of their exposure to extreme weather conditions if they were ignored.

Bibi Meraj, a displaced woman from Qush Tepa district, said that they lacked any resources and lived in a tent amid cold weather. She said no one had helped them.

“We have been in Shiberghan for the past three months, but no one has so far helped us, we ask the government to provide us cooking dishes, winter clothes and food items to help get rid of current problems,” she said.

“If the government has no ability to help the displaced families, then it should at least ensure security in their own areas to facilitate the return of displaced people to their homes”, Meraj added.

Halima Sadaf, a provincial council member, told Pajhwok Afghan News that around 2,000 displaced families from Darzab and Qush Tepa districts were in bad situation in Shiberghan and their needs and demands had not been responded so far.

She claimed to have shared the problems of displaced people with relevant organs. “Some women and children of these families are ill and they have no resources for treatment.”

“I don’t know for what our officials have kept blankets and food items in warehouses. The displaced families are in a bad situation and in need of these items,” she added.

However, Faizullah Sadat, provincial natural disasters management authority head, said 600 families had received food items and clothes and the rest would also receive the same in near future.

He said that around 4,000 families form Sar-i-Pul and Faryab provinces and Qush Tepa and Darzab districts of Jawzjan had been displaced to Shiberghan city. Most or around 2,000 of these families are from Qush Tepa and Darzab districts.

“We are trying to distribute rice, oil, flour and warm clothes to all the displaced families so they don’t face the shortage of food and clothes in winter,” he said.

Many families have been displaced as a result of clashes between Afghan forces and insurgents and infighting between Taliban and Daesh militants in Sar-i-Pul, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces this year.