Many Afghans are loath to return home

The Salang tunnel, linking Kabul to Mazar-e-Sharif, has now reopened, allowing people to go back to their villages

DASHTI-ARZANA, Afghanistan -- Refugees in many camps in northern Afghanistan have yet to hear the good news that donor nations in Tokyo have pledged nearly $1.8 billion in aid to help rebuild their war-torn country.

But talk of multi-year commitments in Japan is likely to fall on deaf ears in the village of Dashti-Arzana.

A few months ago, the Red Cross turned up with a sack of wheat, four cans of cooking oil and firewood for each family, and then departed.

The 4,500 refugee families say they haven't seen any assistance since then, despite overnight temperatures dropping well below freezing and teenagers being forced to beg on the main road.

Displaced Afghanis are scattered throughout the war-ravaged northern region, with 41 camps in the Mazar area sheltering an estimated 250,000 people -- mainly of Tajik and Uzbek origin, says the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR).

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They stay here because they know that help could be close, Mazar-e-Sharif is only 15 kilometers (nine miles) away.

Even though the Salang Tunnel linking Mazar-e-Sharif with Kabul has reopened, and Taliban fighters are long gone, many fear that there is no reason to return home.

Villagers assume that their homes have been looted, their livestock dead, stolen or slaughtered. And even if they wanted to move, no money exists to finance the trip.

During the day, children and adults alike dig into the earth to search for roots to eat, while others gather leaves, grass and chunks of sheep manure to dry in the sun for use as fuel.

Massive assistance

Most children are malnourished and are suffering from Afghanistan's harsh winter; lice are rampant as people huddle together in the cold.

The effects of a prolonged drought, 20 years of war and a ravaged infrastructure are etched on the faces of those in Dashti-Arzana.

It will take a lot of convincing by aid agencies operating in the makeshift camps to convince these refugees to return home when winter ends.

Although 100,000 refugees, according to the U.N., have returned from neighboring Pakistan and Iran, few will be able to sustain their lives back in Afghanistan without massive assistance to recover the devastated infrastructure, farmland and employment.

"I hope the international community will not forget refugees' re-integration needs and will target reconstruction aid not only to urban areas, but also to rural villages, so that people can finally return to their homes," UNHCR spokesman Filippo Grandi said in reference to the donors meeting in Tokyo.