03.2007 - Source: British Agencies Afghanistan Group

Loss of homes and livelihoods due to heavy rains ("BAAG Afghanistan Monthly Review; March 2007") [ID 19607]

"Heavy rain, combined with high levels of snow melt led to severe flooding and mudslides over the second half of March, resulting in casualties and also in loss of homes and livelihoods. The Afghan Government, the World Food Programme and others have done what they could to provide emergency assistance but have, in some areas, been constrained by adverse security or damage to access routes. The Afghan Government, together with UNAMA, have provided for 20,000 people while WFP has distributed 350,000 tonnes of food to its warehouses around the country."

Document(s): Open document

11.12.2006 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Biggest part of households consists of informal settlements without legal status ("Afghanistan; Update") [ID 18385]

"Kabul ist seit 2001 stark gewachsen. Der Bevölkerungszuwachs hat das Wachstum der Hauptstadt jedoch bei weitem übertroffen. Eine Verknappung des Mietraumes sowie ein rasanter Anstieg der Mietpreise sind die Folgen. Gleichzeitig haben sich die Lebensbedingungen in den letzten Jahren für viele Menschen in Kabul verschlechtert. Der weitaus grösste Teil der Haushalte (etwa 70 Prozent des Stadtgebietes) besteht aus informellen Siedlungen ohne rechtlichen Status. Vor allem alleinstehende Männer haben es schwierig, in Kabul eine Wohnung zu finden. Von Wohnungsvermietern als potentiell gefährlich betrachtet, werden sie bei der Wohnungsvergabe oft ausgeschlossen."

Document(s): Open document

02.2005 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Returnees in Faryab face land grabbing and harassment by local militia ("The Long Journey Home. The challenge of refugee return and reintegration") [#29103],  [ID 2667]

"In addition to drought, one of the main challenges that IDPs face after return is land grabbing and continuous harassment by local militias. In Faryab, while many have been able to regain their land and houses and managed to secure some level of sustainable livelihood, others have found that their homes have either been destroyed or are now occupied by others.
In January 2005, hundreds of people, including women and children, had to flee to the mountains after their houses were entirely looted by armed local militia groups in Kohistan district of Faryab.
"We were told that these commanders were no longer in power, but that was not true," Fazal Rabi, a returnee in the northern city of Baghlan, told IRIN. He said he had harvested a good crop of wheat, but had been forced to give a third of it to a local commander as compulsory taxation."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

04.03.2004 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Report focused on general housing conditions, access to essential services, forced evictions, security situation and internally displaced persons and returnees ("Report of the special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the rights to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination, in this context, Miloon Kothari, on his mission to Afghanistan 31 August - 13 September 2003 (E/CN.4/2004/48/Add.2)") [#21422],  [ID 2345]

"The mission was conducted in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad, and in the rural areas in the provinces of Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Parwan. Throughout the mission of the Special Rapporteur, it became clear that a number of key issues need to be addressed in order to ensure adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, such as: land occupation; severe destruction of houses and land, sanitation facilities, water sources and livelihood, etc., as a result of over two decades of conflict; regular occurrence of forced evictions without compensation and alternative arrangements; land speculation with money allegedly stemming from poppy and marijuana cultivation invested into real estate and thereby increasing prices dramatically, making houses and land inaccessible for large parts of the population. Reported incidents of imprisonment and in some cases torture and inhuman or degrading treatment of those resisting forced evictions and of human rights defenders protecting housing and land rights further confirm the need for addressing the situation with an indivisibility-of-rights approach. (p.2)"

Document(s): Open document
Open document

07.11.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

Returning Afghan refugees are making rapid progress on the UNHCR-funded housing programme ("UNHCR briefing notes: High Commissioner in Africa, Liberia, Rwanda, Afghanistan") [#31034],  [ID 2346]

"Returning Afghan refugees are making rapid progress on the UNHCR-funded housing programme. More than 18,600 homes have so far been built under our 2003 housing initiative, putting more than 93,000 returned refugees back in their own homes for the first time since they fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war.

Another more than 30,100 Afghan families are busy constructing their UNHCR-funded homes, with two-thirds up to roof level. At the current pace - now that most Afghans have harvested their wheat fields and fruit trees - we expect that 95 percent of our 52,000 planned shelters will be completed by the end of this year, equivalent to roughly a quarter million former refugees living in their own homes after years in exile.

Work on more than 3100 homes has still not yet begun, but as needy returnees are identified by our partners we expect many to begin constructing walls and roofs during the upcoming winter months. Under our housing scheme, needy Afghan returnees receive tool kits and must build their walls up to shoulder height before they receive roofing timbers, door and window frames. Participants also receive a cash stipend (between $50-100) that compensates them for loss of income during construction or to pay for skilled labor or material like bricks. In the case of returnee families who may not be able to themselves work, the grant allows them to mobilize community help.

In Kabul, we're financing 1,500 individual units as well as the emergency rehabilitation of 24 public buildings that are currently sheltering squatters in order to help ease the housing shortage in the Afghan capital, although our primary aim under our shelter programme is to help Afghanistan's devastated rural communities to rebuild.

Some 2.5 million Afghan refugees have gone back mainly from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran since the start of UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme in March 2002.

More than 562,000 Afghans have returned to their homeland from 21 countries under the UNHCR facilitated return programme this year. More than 338,000 have repatriated from Pakistan, while over 233,000 have so far returned from Iran. Although the pace of returns has slowed down with the approach of winter, there is still a steady flow and we will continue to offer repatriation assistance to those needing help over the coming months.

UNHCR estimates that there are about 1.1 million Afghan refugees still in Pakistan's refugee camps, as well as an unknown but substantial number in urban areas. Another over 1 million Afghan refugees are believed to remain in Iran.

Last year, returning refugees built more than 40,000 shelters under UNHCR's 2002 reconstruction programme that helped over 200,000 families through their first Afghan winter back in decades."

Document(s): Open document

29.09.2003 - Source: International Crisis Group

Land disputes especially in the North ("Peacebuilding in Afghanistan") [#16299],  [ID 2347]

"The land situation is perhaps at its most complex in the north, where some informants identified it as the single most pressing issue: Land is the issue in the north. Every commander that comes starts giving out land to his people with legal documents. There are multiple claims to land and many of these disputes involve big commanders. If they just involve ordinary people they can be solved at a local level, usually in the form of compromise, but these are only the small disputes. Often land is controlled by commanders who have no wish to let go, then they threaten, they kill."

Document(s): Open document

04.09.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

Some 30 families were evicted from their homes in Shir Pur village near the upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan district of central Kabul before their houses were bulldozed/ according to UN police acted with excessive use of force ("UN criticises 'excessive force' in Afghan evictions (AFP)") [#15773],  [ID 2348]

Document(s): Open document

01.09.2003 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Widespread Landlessness ("Land Issues Within the Repatriation Process of Afghan Refugees") [#47197],  [ID 2349]

"Though UNHCR does not have sufficient information on the scale of landlessness, as it had not been examined closely nor systematically, the issue has been documented in depth by other institutions and experts2. It suffices at this point to make special reference to World Food Programme [WFP]’s recently published report. The data contained in it is based on rapid survey carried out in 1,887 villages in 20023. Landlessness varied widely. As many as 68% and 63% of households were landless in respectively Faryab and Jawzjan. Even within a district or province, rates of landlessness vary widely. A recent study of landholding in fifteen villages in Bamyan Province shows that whilst 39 percent of households were landless overall, this ranged from 15 to 86.6 percent by individual village4." The little information that was generated through returnee monitoring reports seems to support their conclusion that landlessness is very widespread in Afghanistan. In Kandahar province for example, UNHCR found that only 20% of the region’s population hold title over land. The majority of the landless returnees to the region either join relatives who are landowners, gain employment as paid farmers on agricultural land (and are commonly granted accommodation on the same land or are assigned unoccupied property belonging to families who are still in exile for temporary use by an area’s local shura. In Ghazni, 30% of the interviewees explained that they had their own agricultural land, the average size being 30 Jeribs. The same is true for the East, where UNHCR has gained an initial idea of the dimension of landlesness through analyzing the reasons for rejecting returnees as beneficiaries to the shelter program that is finances. In doing so, it has found that the number of returnees who fulfil the vulnerability criteria, but who were landless (and therefore excluded from the shelter program on that basis only) amounted to 30% and 60% in some districts in Laghman province. One of the consequences of landlessness is that it has exacerbated the already existing strain on the resources in a particular village."

Document(s): Open document

09.2003 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Möglichkeit für Rückkehrer, die häufig viele Jahre von ihrem Landbesitz getrennt waren, ihren Besitz wieder einzufordern und die daraus möglicherweise resultierenden Streitigkeiten bleiben weiterhin ein Problem ("Aktualisierte Darstellung der Lage in Afghanistan") [#47150],  [ID 2350]

"Besetzung von Land und illegale Kontrolle über Wasserressourcen: Bewässertes Land und Wasserquellen stellen noch immer die wichtigsten Ressourcen in Afghanistan dar, nicht zuletzt wegen der Auswirkungen der anhaltenden Dürre. Die Möglichkeit für Rückkehrer, die häufig viele Jahre von ihrem Landbesitz getrennt waren, ihren Besitz wieder einzufordern und die daraus möglicherweise resultierenden Streitigkeiten bleiben ein wichtiges Anliegen von UNHCR. Obwohl ein vergleichsweise eindeutiges System zur Registrierung von Land existiert, und obwohl vor kurzem in Kabul ein spezielles Gericht zur Klärung von Rechtsstreitigkeiten um Land und Besitz eingerichtet wurde, bleibt der Einfluss vorherrschend, den Kommandeure und mächtigen Gruppierungen auf die Justiz- wie auf die zivile Verwaltung in ganz Afghanistan ausüben. Die Besetzung von Land und die Kontrolle über Wasserressourcen durch Kommandeure oder durch zivile Gruppen, die von einem Kommandeur unterhalten werden, sind besonders im Nordwesten weit verbreitet. Berichte über den Machtmissbrauch durch Angehörige von Gruppierungen, die Land und Häuser besetzen, gibt es auch aus der Stadt Kabul.""

Document(s): Open document

31.08.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

UNHCR repairs up to 30 abandoned public buildings in Kabul and builds 1,500 homes for thousands of former Afghan refugees squatting in bombed-out ruins ("UNHCR to house Afghan refugees living in bombed-out ruins (AFP)") [#15574],  [ID 2351]

Document(s): Open document

01.08.2003 - Source: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

Land ownership in Afghanistan today - disorder and instability ("Current Land Issues in Afghanistan (by Alden Wily)") [#17760],  [ID 2352]

"Instability in land relations is widespread. For many Afghans, the effects of disorder are being most closely felt in matters of land. They cannot access the land or homes they used to own, or use the pastures they grazed, so communal as well as individual disputes over homes, farms, rain-fed land and pasture abound and remain unsolved. The result is that possibly millions of homeless and landless farmers have seen no action that suggests their needs are being addressed. Securing peace without securing peaceful and fair land relations will not bring lasting socio-political order. Conversely, systematic resolution of land conflicts is one strong route to restoring order.
Disorder is increasing. This is most apparent in the urban sphere where land grabbing and illegal production of ownership documents seems to be increasing, making a bad situation worse. Wrongful occupation is increasing in cities and towns as well as in some rural areas. Ethnic grievances, feeding on a long history of mismanaged tribal relations and unjust land access simmer. These developments will make it even more difficult to bring legality and order to the patterning of land rights in the future. Because profound inequities in land access have not been resolved through the years of disorder, and have become worse with the pressure of population, class discontent that cuts across political, ethnic and military alliances will continue to fester."

Document(s): Open document

15.07.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Kabul municipality’s attempts to provide housing for thousands of newcomers have led to protests by squatters and landowners ("Housing Project Outcry") [#14357],  [ID 2353]

Document(s): Open document

23.06.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Lack of access to adequate housing is a serious obstacle to sustainable return ("Out of sight, out of mind: The fate of the Afghan returnees") [#13706],  [ID 2354]

"Lack of access to adequate housing is a serious obstacle to sustainable return. Disputes over land and property ownership proliferate in Afghanistan today, and returnees tend disproportionately to be affected. Many returnees Amnesty International spoke to have arrived back at their places of origin to find their land and/or houses occupied by other families, often with the backing of powerful local commanders. Others have been unable to raise the capital required in order to rebuild houses on their land.
While some returnees Amnesty International spoke with have taken their disputes to the courts, it is also apparent that the process of resolving such disputes is skeletal at best. The rule of law remains elusive, and dispute settlement mechanisms are cumbersome and slow, leaving returnees in a position of heightened vulnerability, as in many cases their ties to the local community have weakened as a result of their absence. Unaccompanied women, in particular, often find themselves unable to access their land upon their return. UNHCR has documented at least one case of a widow returning to Afghanistan and, despite being in possession of documents of ownership, being denied access to her land by the traditional leadership of her village.39 Women are often denied access to traditional leaders, or even formal justice mechanisms, and can be severely disadvantaged in the absence of a male family member who is willing to plead the case on behalf of the female relative. Access to adequate shelter is often a key element in sustainable return. Amnesty International was told by some returnees that the main reason they had returned was to ensure they did not miss out on shelter rebuilding projects. Kokogul and her husband Rahim Khan returned from Karachi to the Shomali Valley in August 2002 when they heard that an international NGO would help them rebuild a house on their land. Similarly, Mohammed Azim came back from Pakistan to Jawzjan province when he heard that UNHCR would help him rebuild his house. However, even these “success stories” demonstrate the interdependence of the rights which are all essential to sustainable return. Kokogul’s husband is unemployed and the family is finding it very difficult to survive economically. There is only one hospital in the valley, and most people have only sporadic access to healthcare. In Jawzjan, Mohammed Azim’s relatives had had to send their son back to Pakistan to protect him from forced recruitment."

Document(s): Open document

26.05.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Mir Bacheh Kowt: United Nations agency for housing and shelter, UN-HABITAT, has started helping 100 widows rebuild their houses ("Housing for widows") [#13229],  [ID 2355]

Document(s): Open document

19.05.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

The return of the Kabul River allows some residents to draw more from their wells and increases electricity supplies ("Kabul River Return Delights Residents") [#13908],  [ID 2356]

Document(s): Open document

24.04.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Hundreds of Kabul residents who lost homes in the chaos of the past six years are finding it hard to retrieve them ("Courts Struggle to Resolve Housing Disputes") [#12423],  [ID 2357]

Document(s): Open document

03.2003 - Source: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

Note on Land Tenure Issues in Kabul City ("Land Rights in Crisis: Restoring Tenure Security in Afghanistan (by Liz Alden Wily)") [#13567],  [ID 2358]

"A Master Plan was developed for Kabul city in 1974. The Master Plan allocated 16,830 ha. of the total area (32,400 ha.) area for housing. Implementation of its centrepiece, the demarcation of around 100,000 plots to provide for construction of 600,000 apartments, began in 1978. Less than 3,000 apartments were built, mainly during 1979-1989. Nonetheless, 70 percent of applicants at the time did receive housing or more often, plots on which to construct houses, on a payment by instalment basis. Plots of around 8,000 ha. were distributed. From 1990, the capacity of the municipality to provide housing, water, sewerage, electricity, roads and public amenities fell to almost zero and self-help construction flourished. Rarely did these houses meet the specifications of the Master Plan. Nor were occupation/ construction undertaken through legal means. Many of these houses are of unstable construction or fall within the designated green belts and hilly areas of the city. Around 6,000 houses fall within this category; either being illegally sited, illegally constructed and/or occupied.
In addition, many of these occupants have purchased these apartments or houses on the basis of fake documentation. In addition, an estimated 600 older private properties have been wrongfully given to and/or inhabited by especially Taliban and post-Taliban commanders, some as recently as one year ago. During the communist period, compensation was generally paid when authorities took private property although at less than open market rates. When mujaheddin or Taliban leaders appropriated property they rarely paid compensation although sometimes this was planned but not executed before the authorities lost power.
The municipality is dealing with these problems through, first, the creation of a joint commission to address claims for restitution of housing on a case-by-case basis. This commission comprises representatives from the municipality, the office of the Kabul governor, the Ministry of Justice, the Primary Court of Kabul and the criminal department of the Ministry of Interior, and is located in the Police Department of the Municipality. It is not a full-time commission. On investigation, the rightful owner of the property is identified and the land handed back to that owner, his children or representative. Often the rightful owner is still the municipality. Current occupants including those who occupied, bought or been sold properties under illegal circumstances will be evicted but may apply for allocation of other housing. Appeal to the Kabul Primary Court may also be made when agreement cannot be reached.
Second, rather than destroying the houses of those who have constructed homes in unscheduled areas of the city or on land which has not formally been sold to them, the municipality plans to relaunch low-cost housing construction on the remaining 1,000 ha. of total housing land (16,830 ha.) available within the city limits and to expand the city limits towards the north (Shomali). The municipality also proposes to purchase some of the private one-storey houses within the 6,000 ha. private housing areas and construct high-rise apartments. It estimates that around 250,000 apartments are currently needed. Those living in unstable or poorly sited areas such as on the hillside greenbelts with receive first offer of housing, which they may purchase at subsidized rates and on payment by instalment. Their houses will then be destroyed, following payment of compensation where the construction was undertaken with official approval and/or on documented payment. To pay for new housing and related road and other service developments, the municipality proposes to invite foreign investors to undertaken building on a commercial basis, alongside provision of low-cost housing schemes suitable for those with less means. However no donor and no investor have yet been forthcoming. Meanwhile, according to the deputy mayor in charge of properties on the Kabul City Council, "Kabul fills weekly with more returnees looking for housing or finding their own homes destroyed or occupied and without the means to build their own houses." The invasion of foreign personnel has inflated prices to levels that are unaffordable to Afghans. Officials in the Mayor's office are grateful for the assistance being provided by the German government in urban water, street lighting and road development but resent the high proportion of foreign money being used to support the internal community instead of Afghans struggling to find a permanent home in their city. "We have seen this before. An invading group comes in claiming to be our saviours, then before long we see they are just helping themselves. The question is how long it will take the people to become angry all over again," the deputy mayor said. Source: Discussion with Sayed Noor Aga Hedayati, Deputy Mayor for Kabul City for Properties."

Document(s): Open document

13.01.2003 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Kabul: Lack of housing ("Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world E/CN.4/2003/39") [#10757],  [ID 2359]

"The population of Kabul doubled in size to 2.7 million over the past year. About 600,000 of the estimated 2 million Afghans who have returned from exile over the last year, along with many others from rural areas, have flooded into the capital attracted by its relative peace and the possibility, however slim, of employment. Most residents face a difficult daily struggle just to survive. The rapid expansion of the population, the proliferating network of United Nations and other aid agencies and the demands of government agencies have sent rents soaring fivefold, putting decent housing beyond the reach of most. Less than half of the housing stock is electrified and its supply is subject to frequent blackouts. In September, the Government introduced a new currency, hoping to stablize prices and exchange rates, but instead its value has plunged against the Pakistani rupee, causing consumer prices to shoot up. The prices of staples such as rice and oil have doubled, while that of beef has tripled. At least 100,000 squatters eke out a marginal existence in the bombed-out ruins of houses, without access to water or electricity."

Document(s): Open document
02457afgh.pdf

24.10.2002 - Source: UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

Jawand/Chagcharan: clashes because of land disputes ("Afghanistan Weekly Situation Report for Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction (18 - 24 October 2002)") [#9490],  [ID 2360]

"Clashes between returnee families and residents in the area bordering Jawand and Chagcharan Districts has resulted in re-displacement of some 120 families and is likely related to land disputes. UNHCR, WFP and World Vision are researching the situation."

Document(s): Open document
unama_weekly_18_24_october2002.pdf

10.09.2002 - Source: Danish Immigration Service

DIS: Access to housing in Kabul ("Political Conditions, Security and Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan. Report on fact-finding mission to Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan and Kabul, Afghanistan, 5-19 May 2002") [#8548],  [ID 2361]

"Access to housing in Kabul

The director for DACAAR pointed out that there is a major housing shortage in Kabul, for both people and organisations, which has caused steep rent increases.

The senior advisor for ACBAR also pointed out that extreme rent increases have taken place in Kabul as a result of UN organisations and aid organisations setting up and contributing to increasing the rents. Afghans who want to return home, according to the source, therefore cannot afford to pay the rent in Kabul.

The director for ACBAR described access to housing in Kabul as catastrophic. The establishment of the international community in Kabul has meant that rents have gone sky-high - for example, the rent for the building where ACBAR has offices has increased from USD 450 per month to USD 13,000 per month. Employees in ACBAR and other NGOs have been evicted from their houses in the suburbs of Kabul because they can no longer pay the rent, despite the fact that these are people with a good income. At present, 4-5,000 refugees return to Kabul on a daily basis, and there is currently a need for housing for around 100,000 people. At the same time there are restrictions on new construction. (Refer to Appendix 4 - ACBAR's press release of 12 May 2002).

The leader of MSF-Afghanistan stated that the population figure in Kabul has risen sharply within the last three months, and that today there are 2-300,000 more inhabitants than three months ago. MSF also emphasised that the high rents in Kabul pose a problem, and mentioned as an example that the rent for the building that MSF uses as offices has risen from USD 250 per month to USD 8,000 per month. Families are therefore settling down with five to six families under the same roof, and problems arise when refugees return home and claim their houses. If this involves wealthy families who are returning and claiming large houses, 30-40 families can suddenly be at risk of losing a roof over their heads. According to MSF, there is no aid for returning refugees who have had their houses destroyed during the war.

The human rights advisor for UNAMA pointed out that - especially in relation to access to housing - there is no judicial system to decide on disagreements between the people who have taken properties into use and the original owners who are now returning (cf. also section III.2.1.2)."

Document(s): Open document

09.08.2002 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Afghanistan Humanitarian Update No. 64 Shelter programme underway ("Afghanistan Humanitarian Update No. 64") [#8581],  [ID 2362]

"Winter is already on the minds of the more than 1.6 million Afghans UNHCR and the Afghan Transitional Authority have helped to return home so far this year – more than 1.4 million refugees and over 200,000 former IDPs.

Many of the recent returnees have gone back to destroyed homes and villages and need shelter before winter arrives, in only three or four months. This year, UNHCR is working to provide shelter for up to 400,000 returnees in rural areas under a $38 million initiative.

To shelter the most needy returnees, UNHCR and its NGO partners are distributing some 41,000 shelter kits. The U.N. refugee agency originally planned to distribute 97,000 kits this year. But with the number of Afghans heading home exceeding expectations, the shelter programme had to be reduced to ensure adequate funds for travel assistance. Challenges also arose in finding partners to implement the ambitious programme.

To get the shelter kits into the field, UNHCR has made agreements with 15 NGO partners to identify needy families and distribute the kits. Each kit contains 20-30 wooden poles, a door and two window frames, in addition to the necessary nails and tools.

In Kabul Province, where areas like the Shomali Plain were devastated by years of war, the agency has so far identified partners who can distribute 14,300 shelter kits. Others are going into eastern Afghanistan, where UNHCR is sending at least 10,500 kits. Northern Afghanistan around Mazar-i-Sharif, will receive at least 8,000 kits, while western areas around Herat will get some 7,000. Kandahar will get some 1,200 kits, and the region around Ghazni – between Kandahar and Kabul – will receive at least 750 kits.

UNHCR has already shipped 240 metric tonnes of nails to distribution points throughout Afghanistan, along with 240,000 door hinges and tens of thousands of tool kits, each containing a hammer, shovel and pickaxe.

From outside South Asia, the U.N. refugee agency has purchased 40,000 cubic metres of timber for some 35,000 kits of which more than 13,000 cubic metres has already arrived in Pakistan ports and is being trucked into Afghanistan. Supplies for 6,000 shelters are being procured regionally along with material like doors, windows and latrine pipes. The programme also includes funding for local carpentry workshops where Afghan craftsmen are building the doors and windows.

Families participating in the initiative will make the necessary mud bricks themselves. Once they've rebuilt their homes up to about shoulder height, UNHCR's NGO partners will then hand over the kits so that returnees can construct the roof and the necessary support beams. In some regions such as Bamyan and the Shomali Plain, families have been given tents for use while rebuilding. All the refugees going home under the UNHCR / Transitional Authority initiative have already received two plastic tarpaulins in their returnee packages."

Document(s): Open document

09.04.2002 - Source: Washington Post

Washington Post: Rental Prices Soar in Kabul (" 09/04/2002 - WP: Rental Prices Soar in Kabul") [ID 2363]

"A housing crisis brought on by the return of thousands of refugees to this war-ravaged capital has led to soaring rents that are forcing many poor and middle-class people from their homes. Even relatively wealthy Afghan exiles are finding they can't afford to live in the upscale neighborhoods they fled. The U.N. refugee agency estimates that upward of 8,000 people are streaming back to Afghanistan every day, and about 3,000 of them are coming to Kabul. They are finding the homes they left in ruins, and the rents they have to pay above their means."

Document(s): 09/04/2002 - WP: Rental Prices Soar in Kabul

03.04.2002 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

IWPR: Kabul Suffering Acute Housing Shortage ("Kabul Suffering Acute Housing Shortage") [#31037],  [ID 2364]

"Thousands of refugees expected to return to the Afghan capital over the next year are likely to find themselves homeless. Indeed, Kabul is still struggling to deal with the destruction wrought a decade ago by the Mujahedin, who reduced 80 per cent of the city to ruins. In the south, eastern, western and north-western parts of the capital, many former homes are little more than heaps of rubbles. In other parts, the water supply, electricity and other social services systems have been destroyed. Only the areas of Khairkhana, Parwan Maina, Shahr-e-Nau and Nadershah Maina have undamaged homes, but lack the capacity to accommodate even Kabul's current population."

Document(s): Open document