Returning Marjah IDPs promised help

IRIN – Hundreds of families who fled fighting in the Marjah area of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in February have started returning home; conditions are difficult but steps are being taken to help them, government officials say.

Over 4,000 families were displaced by a major anti-Taliban offensive by NATO and Afghan forces which began on 13 February, according to the provincial authorities.

“Over 600 displaced families have returned to Nad Ali and Marjah [both towns in Nad Ali District] from Lashkargah over the past four days,” Ghulam Farooq Noorzai, director of Helmand’s refugee affairs department, told IRIN, adding that more people would return in the days ahead.

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Nepal: Stalled government policy leaves IDPs in limbo

IRIN – Efforts to help thousands of families displaced during Nepal’s decade-long armed conflict (1996-2006) to return to their homes or resettle have stalled over government inaction, leaving many unassisted, aid agencies say.

There are an estimated 52,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered with the government, according to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MOPR), although the UN estimates there could be up to 70,000.

In 2007, the government formulated a national IDP policy that allowed for the return, integration and resettlement of IDPs.

Crucial directives for implementing the policy on the ground were also submitted to the Cabinet at the end of 2007, but are still waiting to be approved.

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Fighting for peace in DRC’s Kivu region

(IRIN) – A year ago, Goma town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was temporarily home to tens of thousands displaced by fighting between government forces and various armed groups. Now, many have returned to their villages.

“It does not mean peace has come to Kivu region,” a military observer in Goma, capital of North Kivu Province, said. “Some villagers are relatively safer, but the general situation is still very volatile.”

Goma hosted about 140,000 displaced people (IDPs) in camps at the height of violence in North Kivu in 2008 and 2009, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. In early 2009, some started voluntarily leaving the camps and now 77,000 have left.

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Displaced Civilians in Afghanistan Cause for Concern

IRIN – The number of those displaced by a major anti-Taliban military operation in Nad Ali District, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, has more than doubled over the past four days, according to the provincial authorities.

Over 3,700 families (some 22,000 people) displaced from the Marjah and Nad Ali areas have been registered in Helmand’s capital, Lashkargah, Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman of the Helmand governor, told IRIN on 22 February.

He said most internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been hosted by relatives and friends; a few had sought refuge in abandoned buildings.

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Afghanistan: No camp for Marjah Displaced

IRIN – The government and aid agencies have decided not to set up a camp for hundreds of families displaced by fighting between pro-government forces and the Taliban in the Marjah area of the southern province of Helmand.

“We don’t want to make this a protracted emergency where people would remain in a camp indefinitely,” Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman of the Helmand governor, told IRIN.

Just over 10,000 people (1,573 families) arrived in the provincial capital of Lashkargah in the past 10 days as a major offensive in Nad Ali District by NATO and Afghan government forces got under way, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“Most of the IDPs [internally displaced persons] have been accommodated by relatives and friends in Lashkargah and some live in rented rooms,” Farooq Noorzai, head of the provincial department of refugee affairs, told IRIN.

UNHCR, which relies on information it receives from local partners including the department of refugee affairs, said there had been no “significant” shelter problem facing IDPs in Lashkargah.

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Thousands of Sri Lankan IDPs miss resettlement deadline

IRIN – Sri Lankan government officials aim to resettle more than 100,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) by April after missing a self-imposed deadline to move everyone out of camps in the country’s north by end-January.

Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, said the delay was due in part to incomplete demining activities in northern areas. “It has impeded the resettlement process. The area needs to be completely safe for the people to resettle,” Bathiudeeen told IRIN.

“Administrative structures [in the areas] are now completely restored. They are also functional. Most schools, co-operatives and hospitals are now functioning,” he added.

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IDPs from Jos Dread Returning Home

IRIN – Some 15,400 people who fled violence in the central Nigerian city of Jos remain displaced three weeks later and despite dire living conditions, many do not plan to return and rebuild their destroyed homes.
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NGOs estimate that 6,900 displaced people (IDPs) are sheltering in makeshift camps in and around Jos, capital of Plateau state, while another 8,500 have fled to neighbouring Bauchi state, where the authorities are providing them with water and food.
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“We don’t have anywhere to go because our homes and what we possessed have been burnt. I don’t think many of us want to go back and rebuild our homes because we think they will just be destroyed again,” Sada Bilyaminu, who is displaced at Gangare secondary school in the Jos North neighbourhood, told IRIN.
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“Even if we intend to go back to our homes we don’t have the money to rebuild them,” said Bilyaminu.

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Pakistan Shia IDPs fearful of being Targeted

IRIN – Shias displaced from Orakzai Agency near the Pakistan-Afghan border and now living with hosts in Hangu and Kohat districts, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), say they feel unprotected and vulnerable living alongside other internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are predominantly Sunni.

“We are terrified. The fact is that most of the IDPs here belong to the majority Sunni tribes. Generally we Shias try to keep a low profile by staying indoors with close relatives so we cannot be identified,” said Miran Shah Khan, a 30-year-old IDP from Orakzai tribal area. He said he had instructed his three children to stay “inside all the time”.

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Security Beefed up for North Kivu IDPs

IRIN – Internally displaced people (IDPs) are still being abducted by armed groups for forced labour in several territories in North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) even as authorities beef up security in IDP camps, officials said.

“Men often spend the day away from the [IDP] sites for fear of being abducted, but most abductions occur during the night,” states a 5 February update issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Rutshuru Territory, which has about 129,000 IDPs, is among the most affected.

In southern Walikale Territory, Rwandan Hutu Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia on 28 January attacked civilians in the village of Isuka and abducted seven people, who have yet to be released, to transport looted goods, added OCHA.

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Somalia’s Community Leaders Deliver Water to IDPs

IRIN – Community leaders in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, are filling the gaps in aid distribution by raising funds to assist thousands displaced by fighting, leaders said.

“We started last week and we did it because we see the plight of the displaced every day,” Sheikh Abdifatah Aweys, a religious leader, told IRIN on 9 February. “For now we are addressing the most pressing problem, and that is water.”

Aweys said their efforts were not meant to replace aid agencies who were absent on the ground at present: “We know we cannot cover everything, so we are doing what we can. These are our people and our religion dictates that you help those less fortunate.”

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