Pakistan blocking access to grazing land leaves Afghan nomads trapped, hungry
A recent assessment by a German aid group found that 200,000 Kuchis were trapped in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Khost with enough food for only two weeks, said Kinga Komorowska, country director for French charity Action Against Hunger.
“Now they are pretty close to being without food,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Kabul. She said her charity had approached two major aid donors, which she declined to name, with requests for assistance.
“They rejected it, which was disappointing,” she said. One donor said there was not enough data despite the needs assessment while another said the situation “fell outside its mandate”, according to Komorowska.
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She said if the Kuchis were not provided with aid soon, many would join Afghanistan’s growing population of uprooted people, who depend on support from the government and aid agencies. Their most pressing concern was a lack of food, Komorowska said.
But the situation could also make it impossible for many of them to continue their traditional way of life, she added.
The needs assessment, which was carried out by the Berlin based aid group Johanniter International Assistance, found that many of the Kuchis’ animals had already died and the nomads had been forced to sell some of their healthy stock.
The loss of livestock means they will face difficulties making a living as they depend on their camels for transportation, as well as goats and sheep for dairy, meat and wool products that they consume and sell.
With so many animals being sold, Kuchis earn just $175 per sheep or goat, down from $250 last year, the assessment found. Pakistan has closed its border crossings before, but unlike this year, Kuchis were allowed to follow their traditional grazing routes, said Komorowska.
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Original news : https://tribune.com.pk/story/1639039/3-pakistan-blocking-access-grazing-land-leaves-afghan-nomads-trapped-hungry/