Compilation of Country of Origin Information on Afghanistan, January 2004 I General Information 1. Voter Registration By the first week of January 2004, 274,964 Afghans were registered in the eight main cities. This includes 215,781 men and 59,183 women. The current rate of registration is far below the rate necessary to complete registration for elections next year. It is necessary therefore that registration teams have access to all areas of the country. This week’s figures show that Jalalabad continues to lead the turnout of Afghans registering with 29 percent of the total number of voters registered in all cities. In terms of women’s participation, Bamyan continues to have the highest proportion of women registering, with 43 percent of the total 23,403 voters registered. This figure is followed by Herat, where 29 percent of registered voters are women. 2. Loya Jirga Afghanistan's Loya Jirga has agreed on a new constitution that aims to bring stability and unity to the nation. The aim of the document is to unify the diverse Afghan nation and to prepare the ground for elections later this year. It envisages a powerful presidency - in line with the wishes of current leader Hamid Karzai - and two vice-presidents. The constitution is designed to consolidate an ethnically diverse state. The constitution also provides for women having guaranteed representation in the new parliament, as well as a powerful presidency. Agreement was reached after three weeks of heated debate that exposed the country's fragile ethnic relations. 3. General Security As a result of increased insecurity for UN and NGO staff in the South, South-East and East of Afghanistan, UNHCR has temporarily suspended the facilitation of returns from Pakistan. All UNHCR direct field monitoring in Nimroz, Kandahar, Hilmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Kunar, Laghman, Nuristan and Nangarhar is at present suspended. The UNHCR offices in Ghazni and Lashkargah are closed as of January 2004. UNHCR will re-evaluate the possibility of restarting the return operation on a continual basis. Provided the security situation stabilises, facilitated return will resume in early 2004. Areas of concerns: Security in the provinces bordering the Islamic Republic of Pakistan - Nuristan, Kunar, Jalalabad, Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Hilmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan and Ghazni – has been a concern, particularly over the past two months. Measures have been taken by Coalition and Afghan forces and the Pakistani government to counter security incidents. During his meeting in Kabul with Afghan authorities in mid-January, Pakistan's prime minister vowed to beef up security along the border with Afghanistan, UNHCR Canberra Country Information on Afghanistan 21 January 2004 Page 1 09/02/2004 where anti government militants are active, as part of the neighbors' joint fight against terrorism. Uruzgan Province: Monitoring throughout 2001-2003 has shown that serious human rights violations have taken place in this area against the population. Any IC that has a high political profile cannot return to this area, where insecurity and absence of rule of law prevails without putting him or herself in serious risk. Kandahar Province: The UNHCR office in Kandahar city was the target of an attack on 5 January 2004. There were no casualties and the office continues to function. There were also two explosions in the centre of Kandahar city on 6 January 2004 which left 16 civilians, including several children, dead and more than 50 people injured.1 Lalo Sarjangal district, Ghor Province: Monitoring in this part of Ghor has been limited due to accessibility problems. However, the ethnic composition of Lalo Sarjangal district is 98% Hazara and 2% other ethnicities including Pashtuns, Tajiks and Aimaqs. (Source of the statistics is the “Afghanistan Population Estimates by Province, District, and sub-District: A Graphic Presentation” produced by the UN in April 1991, UNIDATA for Internal Use Only). Individuals would be in need of protection only if they have had some personal animosity with the local commanders or involvement in the drug and arms smuggling as it is nowadays a common business in that area. It is also worth mentioning that according to a returnee-monitoring mission in June 2003, no major protection concerns have been noticed in the 12 main villages of Lalo Sarjangal district including Garmao Balna. Nevertheless, there had been some fighting in late 2002 in Neeli area within Daikundi of Uruzgan Province which borders Lalo Sarjangal district. Neeli is famous for the presence of commanders, and is considered a poppy and arms smuggling centre. Mr. Said Nader Bahr is the head of the district and is loyal to Akbari’s faction of Hezb Wahdat. As for Hajji Qudsi, he was the head of the 35th military division of Mr. Khalili, and is currently the head of the police unit of Lal and Sar-e- Jangal. Mr. Bahr has been known to have created problems for the local population in the past, though the situation is calm at the moment. Commander Etemadi is originally from Asya Gak village of Sar-e-Jangal. He is loyal to Khalili and has armed people in Bazar-e-Safedak. Please note that there is also a commander by the name of Zaheer who had reportedly created problems for the people. The relationship between the two warlords in the area was not good. Although Mr. Bahr is the official district governor, he can not travel to the areas that are controlled by Mr. Ethemadi. 4. Food Distribution Insecurity is the main constraint to WFP's large-scale recovery and reconstruction activities, and thus hampers Afghanistan's reconstruction process. Most relief activities, such as assistance to IDPs, hospitals, as well as assistance to school children and teachers continue to be implemented, albeit at a reduced level. 1 See also Appendix A. UNHCR Canberra Country Information on Afghanistan 21 January 2004 Page 2 09/02/2004 The most insecure areas are generally also the most poverty stricken and food insecure. In circumstances where security prevents WFP staff from operating, in limited cases activities can continue thanks to the presence of governmental or non-governmental partners. Some examples from the regions: In Ghazni and Paktika provinces, 39% of the planned food distributions could not be executed in November 2003, or 5,169 MT out of 13,131 MT of mixed food commodities. In November 2003, WFP was unable to reach 103,036 people in the East, or 52% of the targeted population, especially in districts bordering Pakistan. Many of WFP's recovery and reconstruction projects have been suspended in the South. In November 2003, WFP could not reach 232,488, or 37% of the targeted beneficiaries. 5. Internal Flight Alternative UNHCR advocates for non-application of IFA or IPA in Afghanistan, linked to the nature of support and protection mechanisms being reliant on the presence of other family/tribal members, and the difficulties, non-acceptance and potential problems an Afghan from one province may face in another which is not his place of origin, the latter exacerbated by general absence of rule of law and presence of commanders and armed persons. II Regional Security in Ghazni Province, South-east region Following the tragic death of Bettina Goislard on 16 November in Ghazni, UNHCR Afghanistan has implemented comprehensive security measures, mainly in the East, South-East and South of Afghanistan where Taliban infiltration is believed to be most prevalent. Field Office Ghazni remains closed, since 16 November 2003, and monitoring activities in this province has halted. The information provided below are some of the issues already highlighted in the returnee monitoring report on Ghazni that covered the period January to October 2003. 1. Overview of the districts Security situation in some of districts have deteriorate since the District Profiles were issued in July 2003. Ghazni Province has been marked by terrorist threats, corruption and statelessness. Disarmament has yet to take place in Ghazni province, and many civilians have expressed concern over the fact that any local dispute that arises, individuals owning weapons do not hesitate to use them for self- defence or retaliation purposes. The province of Ghazni, like all the provinces in the South-east region, is currently a high risk area for UN staff due to the presence of Taliban supporters. Trends and analysis in returnee monitoring illustrate that the security situation in Ghazni province has deteriorated as compared to the situation during the first quarter of 2003, particularly in the districts of Andar, Muqur, Khwaja Omari, Nawa, Nawur and Qarabagh. Throughout 2003, UNHCR staff has had no access to the districts of Ab Band, Gilan and Nawa, due to the precarious security situation. 2. Obstacles to reintegration and economic survival In districts where security is not a concern to returnees, sustain ability of returns was expressed by the interviewees to be related to the creation of job opportunities in the UNHCR Canberra Country Information on Afghanistan 21 January 2004 Page 3 09/02/2004 province and increased access to water resources. Drought persists in the districts of Andar, Deh Yak, Gilan and Khwaja Omari. Some returnees expressed secondary or reverse movements from these areas if the economic situation does not improve. However, poppy cultivation boom were reported in Gilan and Khwaja Omari districts. In Nawur district, an area cut off from the rest of the province during the winter season, was observed to have a significant number of young men absent and farming activities being conducted by elders and women. In Andar, Deh Yak, Gilan and Zana Khan districts, girls schools are at risk and some teachers and families have received threatening letters for teaching or sending their children to schools. All 17 districts in Ghazni, with the exception of Zana Khan, have district officials appointed by the Provincial Governor (a Pashtun affiliated with the Itehad-e-Islami party).