Edict on Hindus 'a bad omen for Afghanistan'

Locusts descend on Baghlan province, north of the capital, Kabul. The World Food Program estimates 40 pct of crops were lost to locusts in Baghlan this year

By CNN's Hope Ngo

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The recent edict from Afghanistan's ruling Taleban authorities requiring Hindus to wear identity labels is a further sign of deteriorating conditions in the war-ravaged country, the Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan believes.

Spokesperson Stephanie Bunker told CNN that the office believed things were "going to get a lot worse" in the next few months, because of the combined weight of war, famine, disease and the repression of individual rights.

"The people have lost, and lost, and lost. They've lost their livestock, and because of that they've lost their savings, they are not able to till their fields as well, and yields will drop further," she said.

Even the Taleban's attempt to curb illicit opium production last year by banning poppy cultivation has had a negative effect on the country.

"Everything that's happened in Afghanistan over the last 10 years has had a domino effect, and we're going to see more of the effects of that in the next three or four years," she said.

The most telling sign of the deterioration in the country is a change in the Afghan's attitudes.

"Afghans tend to share," she said. "If someone has two cups of flour, he offers half a cup to one neighbor and half a cup to the other. This is why they've been able to cope with all that's happened to them."

"But even this is not happening anymore. Their resources have been exhausted by 22 years of war and three years of famine," she said.

The invasion of Afghanistan by what was then known as the Soviet Union in 1979, coupled with fighting between opposing political factions has displaced as much as 6.2 million persons, resulting in what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called "the world's largest single refugee case-load."

Earlier this year, UNHCR reported the number of Afghans fleeing to Pakistan to escape war and drought at 170,000.

Before the latest influx, there were more than 1.2 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, 1.3 million in Iran, and tens of thousands more scattered around the world, UNHCR said.