'We are all waiting to die'

Afghan refugees live in squalor, without hope

Many children are sick and dying in Jalozai Refugee Camp

JALOZAI REFUGEE CAMP, Pakistan (CNN) -- Three years of drought and 20 years of civil war have taken a harsh toll on the Afghan people, forcing hundreds of thousands of them to flee horrid conditions at home for refugee camps where they may fare no better.

The situation is dire enough for internally displaced Afghans, aid officials say, but worse for those who fled across Afghanistan's borders into neighboring countries, where they are often considered little more than illegal immigrants.

Such is the case at Jalozai, a squalid camp in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, where 80,000 Afghans live in what residents call "a living graveyard."

"There is so much sickness here, there is hardly any medical attention here," says resident Noora Khan, who recently buried his only daughter, 2-year-old Zakia. "We are all waiting to die."

Five months of eating scraps

On Monday, the United Nations began distribution of about 600 tons of wheat flour and oil to refugees in the camp -- the first time in five months Pakistani officials have allowed such a delivery.

It's the first time in five months Jalozai's residents will eat something more substantial than scraps.

"It's a place not fit for human habitation," says Yusuf Hassan, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "It's a miserable place, and life is very difficult for the people."

About 80,000 people -- thousands of them children -- live in a camp constructed on a dry riverbed, with no schools, no electricity, no running water. The entire settlement boasts 830 toilets -- roughly one for every 1,000 residents.

In the past few months, more than 100 Afghans, most of them children, have died in Jalozai of heat stroke, dehydration and respiratory illnesses. In the past two weeks, 31 have died -- 25 of them children.

Jalozai's residents are losing hope.

"Our children are dying," says Raisgul Abdullah Hakim. "My daughter is now near death. There is no one to ask about us."

Millions at risk

Afghan refugees line up to receive U.N. food aid Monday, the first time in five months they won't be eating scraps at Jalozai Refugee Camp in Pakistan

The United Nations has pushed Pakistan to begin registering the residents of Jalozai as refugees, but Pakistani officials refuse, saying they've taken in 2 million refugees already, and that's enough.

"We appeal to the international community to help them," says Pakistani official Syad Mazhar Ali Shah, "but we are not in favor of registering them because we feel that once they're registered, it will create pull-factor, and many more Afghan refugees waiting in the wings will follow suit."

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced a $43 million aid package for humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and said he was working with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to drum up more aid from other quarters of the world.

More than 700,000 people have fled their homes, according to the United Nations, but 4 million Afghans are at risk as the situation worsens.

And with summer slithering in with rising temperatures and more drought, the situation shows no signs of improvement.

CNN Correspondent Satinder Bindra contributed to this report.