DRC Photo Report: Tajikistan February 2014
FEBRUARY 2014 PHOTO REPORT TAJIKISTAN 1 R To help vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers cope with freezing wintertime temperatures, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Tajikistan conducted a distribution of humanitarian aid in February and March 2014. This project was generously funded by the German Embassy in Dushanbe. In this photo, families await instructions for receiving aid at the distribution site. All photos are from the distribution in Vahdat, Tajikistan on 14 and 15 February 2014. During winter DRC provided qualifying, vulnerable families with rice, wheat flour, heaters, blankets, and sunflower oil. Additionally, school children ages 7-12 were provided with winter clothing and boots. Above, DRC Livelihoods Coordinator Qadriddin Teshaev explains distribution procedures.
2 DRC / DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL Winter distribution began in the town of Vahdat on 14 February 2014 and also took place in refugee communities in Dushanbe, Khujand, and the more remote districts of Hissor and Rudaki. Above, a crowd listens to how aid will be distributed. The distribution of humanitarian aid is especially crucial in Tajikistan since refugees and asylum seekers do not receive any form of government aid. Exacerbating this situation is that Tajik law prevents refugees and asylum seekers from living in the capital, Dushanbe, or in major cities, and they must therefore reside in small towns or rural areas where livelihood opportunities are often extremely limited, says Josh Friedman. Above, a refugee laments the few opportunities available to refugees in Vahdat, a small city 20 kilometers east of the capital Dushanbe.
PHOTO REPORT TAJIKISTAN 3 Representatives from the German Embassy in Tajikistan visited the distribution site in Vahdat. Above, German diplomats based in Dushanbe pose with a refugee family that had received aid through this project. The banner on the left reads, in Tajik: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dushanbe. DRC developed specific criteria to determine the extent of a refugee household s vulnerability and what type of aid would be most appropriate for that family. To qualify for distribution, a family must have met certain vulnerability criteria, such as being a widow, elderly, disabled, newly-arrived refugee, or female head of household, says Qadriddin Teshaev, Livelihoods Coordinator at DRC. In this photo, a woman and her child wait as DRC Community Mobilizer Umrinisso Karimova checks the registration list.
4 DRC / DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL DRC staff cooperated closely with an Afghan civil society organization, Majmaai Oriono, and its volunteers to help prepare the distribution list and actually distribute the aid items. Here, a girl checks the registration list posted outside the distribution site in Vahdat. On the day of distribution in Vahdat, each head of the family provided their refugee or asylum seeker card to confirm their identify in order to receive aid. The registration list was capped at 50 families per day, and on the final day, families who were not on the list were able to receive aid if they satisfied the vulnerability criteria. Here, DRC volunteer, Khurshed Rajabov, helps a boy try on a coat.
PHOTO REPORT TAJIKISTAN 5 While Tajikistan does not present an emergency situation for refugees and asylum seekers, there are still many displaced people who need help, especially in the winter. Without basic necessities in the winter, many vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers are exposed to chronic illness and school children may be forced to drop out of school for lack of adequate food and clothing, says Josh Friedman, Country Director of DRC Tajikistan. Pictured here is a man and his family after receiving aid. Some refugees, such as widows and families with disabled children, live alone and must work long hours to provide for their families. Pictured to the right is a vulnerable Afghan refugee woman with her portion of the distribution. Report Papekistan
6 DRC / DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL The German Embassy has been very committed to helping refugees in Tajikistan, not just with humanitarian aid, but also with advocacy towards the government to make sure that refugees have opportunities. DRC appreciates their interest and willingness to help refugees, said Josh Friedman, Country Director of DRC Tajikistan. Above, three Afghan refugee girls pose for a picture following the distribution in Vahdat. There are approximately 5,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Tajikistan, although it is believed that the number of Afghans in the country who would meet the internationally-recognized definition for a refugee is much higher. Above, a man and his sons pose at a distribution site in Vahdat. Pakistan
PHOTO REPORT TAJIKISTAN 7 Refugee women receive aid at a distribution site in Vahdat. Photographer: William W. Castillo Guardado.