KABUL - Afghanistan's decade-long conflict has forced more than half a million people to flee their homes — many of whom are at risk of disease, hunger and possible death in city slums across the impoverished country, Amnesty International warned on Thursday.Increasing attacks by militants, as well as airstrikes and operations by international and Afghan forces, are on average uprooting 400 people daily, said a report by the human rights group, with thousands seeking refuge in Kabul and other cities.
Afghan officials, said the London-based group, claim those fleeing fighting are "economic migrants" and are reluctant to provide or allow aid agencies to provide proper facilities, cautious that it will lead to permanent illegal settlements.
- Not only is shelter inadequate, but clean water and food is scarce for many families who left a rural farming lifestyle, yet have been unable to earn an income and adapt to an urban cash-based economy, said the report.
Unsanitary conditions and poor access to health care have led to high rates of diarrhoea and skin infections amongst children. Women are forced to give birth amidst the filth and with no trained midwives, said Amnesty International, increasing the risk of maternal and infant deaths in a country already ranked among the world's worst.According to reports, International donors which fund over 90 per cent of Afghanistan's total public expenditure
should ensure that their humanitarian assistance addresses the needs of internally displaced people,"Horia Mosadiq, researcher of Fleeing war, Finding misery said, "Even with its limited resources, the Afghan government can aid its displaced citizens."
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