What is the housing situation for IDPs?
NRC, Afghanistan: 20,000 displaced people evicted from makeshift camps in freezing temperatures, 15 December 2022
“The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Taliban authorities to halt further evictions of internally displaced people (IDPs) from settlements across Afghanistan, until they have found sustainable alternatives. "In the midst of another harsh Afghan winter approximately twenty thousand displaced people have been evicted from their homes in Badghis province by Taliban authorities. Many now have no food to feed their children and no way of keeping warm as temperatures drop below zero,” said Neil Turner, NRC's country director in Afghanistan. "The Badghis authorities must recognize that they have responsibilities towards the population. It is essential that authorities ensure families have shelter and are able to support themselves before undertaking any further evictions; and should also assist those already evicted." Previous decades of fighting, and more recently drought, have forced thousands of families to flee their homes in the rural areas of Badghis and seek out safety and humanitarian support in the capital, Qala-e-Naw. They have eked out an existence on the city's outskirts, relying on haphazard combinations of humanitarian assistance and manual labour. The authorities in Badghis have insisted these families return to their original homes and that the settlements are dismantled. However, many have no homes in their villages of origin and in the current economic situation it will be difficult for them to find work and survive there. NRC’s Camp Management team in Afghanistan has confirmed that just under 20,000 people have been evicted in the past weeks. “We put all our belongings on two donkeys and walked all the way here. We arrived almost at midnight the day we were evicted. It was very cold that day. We spent five to six years in that settlement and now we have come here, and we don’t have anywhere to live. Almost all of my six kids have
"In reality we have not seen at this point large movements of Afghan people towards the borders of the country,"
become sick. We have nothing to eat and there is no one to support us. The local people here already have their own financial issues,” said a widow who was evicted from her home in Qala-e-Naw to her village of origin in Badghis province. Months of negotiations with the humanitarian community and small-scale pilot returns processes have failed to convince the authorities to follow a slower and more sustainable returns process. Instead, the displaced families have been forced to leave. NRC has launched an emergency response to provide humanitarian support in the form of cash grants and essential items to families on the move in Badghis province. "All further evictions must be halted until the Taliban authorities, with the support of the international and humanitarian communities, have found long-term solutions for highly vulnerable displaced communities," said Turner. Facts and Figures: NRC’s camp management teams estimate that some 2 million internally displaced people live in over 1,000 large sprawling slum-like informal settlements across almost 30 provinces in Afghanistan, usually in appalling conditions and often highly dependent on humanitarian aid to supplement meagre earnings. In Qala-e-Naw, Badghis Province, Afghanistan, there were 8 informal settlements, home to approximately 2,800 families (just under 20,000 individuals). All of these settlements have now been demolished. Last week, the Taliban authorities conducted a survey of the settlements to register all families, but reportedly did not register female headed households (187 households in total), raising concerns that they will be left off the list for future support in their areas of origin. A small-scale pilot returns process was initiated in Badgis in June this year for 260 families and was supported by the humanitarian community. However, serious concerns have been raised over the sustainability and modality of these returns given the poor level of basic infrastructure and ongoing drought in rural areas, as well as the use of cash incentives. The Taliban authorities are bound by obligations under international law including against forced evictions. In this regard, for an eviction to meet international standards and not become a forced eviction, authorities must comply with several principles, including obligations after an eviction has occurred. Namely that people must not be left homeless or living in inadequate housing after an eviction. The latest humanitarian response plan (HRP) highlights that Afghanistan remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023 as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline, all the while still reeling from the after-effects of decades of conflict and recurrent natural disasters. The HRP estimated that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and protection assistance in 2023 in Afghanistan, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021. A recent report by UNDP indicates that the formal economy in Afghanistan lost US$5 billion after August 2021 and is on a declining trajectory. Afghanistan lost in 12 months what had taken 10 years to accumulate.”
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), Afghanistan: Risk Overview, 07 November 2022
“Possessing documentation (including birth certificates, driver’s licences, and land ownership documents) is critical
to reducing protection risks, ensuring access to income-generating opportunities, and securing assets. Access to civil
documentation is indistinguishably linked to housing, land, and property (HLP) rights, contingent on a person’s ability to prove their identity and family lineage. A lack of civil documentation severely limits opportunities and further compounds the challenges that IDPs and returnees face in exercising their HLP rights.”
Tolo News, Ministry: 2,000 Displaced Families to Return to Provinces, 27 July 2022
“Ministry of Repatriation and Refugees officials said two thousand displaced people will be returned to their
provinces in cooperation with the United Nations.
[…] ‘We share lists of these displaced people with our provincial zones and after evaluations, $400 will be given to the needy and issues of housing, food aid and temporary shelter have been considered for them,’ said Muhammad Arif Sadiqi, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Meanwhile, some displaced people said they are worried about homelessness and unemployment.
[…] According to statements by Repatriation and Refugees officials, currently more than three million internally
displaced people have come to the capital because of war and draught.”
Norwegian Refugee Council (Afghanistan), Afghanistan: Devastating Earthquake Exacerbates Dire Humanitarian Crisis, 22 June 2022
areas most affected by the earthquake. Khost Province is home to thousands of internally displaced Afghans,
returnees, and refugees from Waziristan […] Most of the population affected by the earthquake has already experienced multiple displacements and has been severely hit by the economic collapse, following the financial restrictions placed on the country after the Taliban takeover."
UNHCR, Afghanistan: UNHCR Operational update - April 2022, 8 June 2022
“A core part of UNHCR’s work is providing access to adequate shelter to persons in need. In Afghanistan, UNHCR is responding to the emergency through tent distribution and installation, construction and maintenance of emergency shelter kits and shelter rehabilitation. UNHCR provides cash for shelter support to refugee and IDP returnees to repair their partially damaged homes in their areas of origin. UNHCR also works on repair of essential services infrastructure and public facilities in the PARRs. […] UNHCR scaled up its winter response programme to support IDPs, refugee and IDP returnees as well as affected host communities. This has enabled UNHCR to effectively respond to the basic needs of affected communities and support their recovery process through CRIs, cash, shelter, and other protection services.”
Gandhara, Taliban Accused of Forced Evictions As Fighting Intensifies In Northern Afghanistan, 7 June 2022 "PARWAN, Afghanistan -- Armed Taliban fighters stopped at Ahmad’s home last week, ordering his family of six to immediately leave their village in Afghanistan’s northern province of Baghlan.
“They didn’t even allow us to take any of our belongings,” Ahmad, who did not reveal his real name for fear of retribution, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. He said the Taliban fighters forced his family into a military vehicle in the Pol-e Hesar district and dropped them off in another area of the province.
Ahmad and his family are among the hundreds of civilians that have been forcibly evicted from their homes in recent weeks in Baghlan, the scene of intensifying clashes between the Taliban and resistance forces, residents and activists say.
The recent surge in fighting in Baghlan and the neighboring province of Panjshir has prompted allegations of widespread Taliban abuses, including extrajudicial killings of civilians, torture, and forced displacement." "Zabihullah Farahmand, an activist in Baghlan, said the Taliban has forcibly evicted at least 50 families from their homes in the districts of Pol-e Hesar, Deh Salah, and Andarab in recent weeks. The districts comprise the long, narrow Andarab Valley. "They have been forcibly relocated by the Taliban and no assistance has been provided to these refugees,” says Farahmand. “These families find refuge in other northern provinces with a lot of hardship. They need help and care."
UNHCR, UNHCR AFGHANISTAN 2021 MULTI SECTORIAL RAPID ASSESSMENTS ANALYSIS, 21 April 2022
“Some 84 per cent of IDPs indicated that they are renting shelters. IDP returnees (24%) are also renting accommodation in their place of origin upon return. Evidently, given that shelters may have been damaged by conflict, IDP returnees have needs pertaining to shelter rental. Qualitative findings from UNHCR’s CBPM have found that the presence of IDPs who rent homes drives-up rental prices and contributes to community tensions. The rapid assessment data shows that 20 per cent of host community members are also renting shelters, creating a protection concern linked to the issue of rent, beyond just individual needs.”
US DOS, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 12 April 2022
“Limited humanitarian access due to the poor security situation caused delays in identifying, assessing, and providing timely assistance to IDPs, who continued to lack access to basic protection, including personal security and shelter. Many IDPs, especially in households with a female head, faced difficulty obtaining basic services because they did not have identity documents. Many IDPs in urban areas reportedly faced discrimination, lacked adequate sanitation and other basic services, and lived at constant risk of eviction from illegally occupied displacement sites, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.”
"The Spera District in Khost Province; Barmala, Ziruk, Nika and Gayan Districts in Paktika Province are among the
ToloNews, Nangarhar: 1000s of War-Displaced Families Return Home, 31 January 2021
“Families which were forced to leave their homes during the 20-year conflict are returning to their villages in the Shinwari area of Nangarhar. Shinwari is a large area located alongside the Durand Line in Nangarhar. The area is comprised of six districts including Spin Ghar, Nazian, Achin, Haska-Mina, Dor Baba and Ghani Khel.” [...] “The Islamic Emirate has launched a process to transfer the war-displaced people back to their home areas. But the families complained about the lack of support and aid, which makes life difficult back in their home areas.”
AVA Press, Unfavourable Situation of 4,000 Displaced Families in Afghanistan’s Kapisa, 21 December 2021
“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 and Repatriations in province, more than 4,000 families have been displaced from their homes five months ago
following the breakout of clashes.”
TOLO News, 1000s of Displaced People Still Live in Kabul: Officials, 6 December 2021
““This assistance is not enough, people have lots of problems in Afghanistan and full attention must be paid to their challenges. The pledges of the international community have not been sufficiently fulfilled and have not reached Afghanistan,” said Mohammad Arsalah Kharoti, deputy minister of refugees and repatriations.
Meanwhile, some internally displaced people complained that their challenges have not been adequately
addressed, saying they are in dire need of shelter.”
UN News, Avoid starvation: ‘Immediate priority’ for 3.5 million Afghans, 3 December 2021
“Displaced lack proper shelter
Following his recent return from Kabul, Mr. Baloch [UNHCR Spokesperson] said in Geneva that a lack of insulated shelters, warm clothes, insufficient food, fuel for heating, and medical supplies are just some of the deprivations confronting people who have been forcibly displaced.
With temperatures “expected to drop to -25C, many displaced families lack proper shelter – a primary requirement
if they are to survive the bitter cold”, he warned.”
AVA Press, IDPs appeal for urgent help ahead of winter, 30 September 2021
“Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) are living in very poor conditions in
Kabul camps, where they have no access to medical services nor regular food supplies.
Sahar Arsalan, an IDP stated: “Refugees from all provinces are living inside tents in hardship; so far, they have not received any assistance from the or any organizations.”
The IDPs have also called on aid agencies to provide them with shelter in Kabul or help them to return home. Another IDP said: “Many have no home in their provinces and they need aid and help to get back to their province to help them pay rent for houses.””
ACAPS, Afghanistan - Conflict-Driven Displacement, 3 September 2021
“Sectoral needs
Shelter and NFIs
IDPs in Kunduz are residing with relatives or friends, sheltering in schools, or have put up makeshift shelters, all of which are inadequate (OCHA 25/08/2020). NGO assessments have identified that IDPs need shelter aid, though warned against establishing camps-style settlements that may encourage the spread of COVID-19 (OCHA
27/08/2020).”