Harsh winter takes toll on Afghan war displaced

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Afghan women line up to receive winter relief assistance donated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kabul, January 2, 2013. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:14 GMT
Source: alertnet
By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI, (AlertNet) – The bitter cold of the Afghan winter is contributing to a rising number of deaths, particularly among children, in urban slums across the country where vulnerable displaced Afghans struggle to survive, aid agencies said on Tuesday.

Human rights group Amnesty International said its research showed at least 11 children and six adults had died in the last month as a result of the cold weather, though there are no official figures.

"We have repeatedly called on the government and the humanitarian community to prepare better for the winter, but the response has been patchy and in an ad hoc manner," said Maya Pastakia, Amnesty's Afghanistan campaigner. "It's too little, too late."

U.N. officials said the food, blankets and firewood being handed out were just ‘a band aid’ while other aid agencies called on the government to give higher priority to providing permanent settlements for the displaced.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/harsh-winter-takes-toll-of-afghan-war-displaced

(Updates to clarify cold is contributing to, not the sole cause of, deaths among displaced in paragraph 1, and to distinguish between aid agency and UN officials' comments in paragraph 4)