Unfavorable Situation of 4,000 Displaced Families in Afghanistan’s Kapisa

More than four months after the end of fighting between the former government and the Taliban, hundreds of displaced families in Kapisa province have not yet returned to their homes. According to the Department of Refugees and Repatriations in Kapisa province, more than 4,000 families have been displaced from their homes five months ago following the breakout of clashes.

Maryam, a middle-aged woman, is a resident of the Afghaniya Valley in the Nijrab district of Kapisa province. Speaking to Hasht-e Subh, she said that the fighting between the former government forces and the Taliban a few months ago, their house had been destroyed, and now they could not rebuild it. She added that her family has nine members and that her husband has lumbar disc disease. “A few months ago, the fighting, we migrated from our main area to the second part of Kapisa district,” she said. “At that time, our house was destroyed with cannons and planes. We do not have a durable situation and, my husband is sick. Out of compulsion, I send my 10-year-old son to Shoemaking. He earns 60 to 70 afghanis per day and, we make a living with the same money.”

Maryam, a ten-year-old boy, is busy waxing people’s shoes from morning to evening and cannot go to school. Maryam said her son dropped out of school to find a “morsel of bread.”

Akhund Jan, another IDP in the Ala-Sai district of Kapisa, told Hasht-e Sbu that he could not return to his home due to lack of money and food. “To return to Ala-Sai, we have to have car fares, food, and fuel,” he added. “We cannot return without facilities. I still do not have the money to buy raw materials. Returning requires money.”

On the other hand, some other IDPs in Kapisa province say that aid is being distributed to intermediaries. Sefatullah, a resident of Ala-Sai district and the current resident of Kapisa provincial capital, told Hasht-e Subh that he had been referring to the province’s office for refugees and returnees for three weeks, but that officials had not received his application.

The Taliban officials, however, have denied the allegations, saying the relief process is based on a “house-to-house” survey of aid agencies. Mohammad Qasim Malekzada, the director of refugees and returnees in Kapisa province, told Hasht-e Subh that the remaining people would be covered in the third phase of aid.

According to the Kapisa Department of Refugees and Returnees, as of Sunday, about 4,000 internally displaced families have been surveyed by aid agencies in cooperation with the Kapisa Department of Refugees and Returnees, of which 3,000 families have received assistance.