Pakistan's refugee camps: Why toilets need to be a priority

DW (English)

For many Afghan refugees in Pakistan, basic sanitation is a daily struggle. Makeshift toilets don't provide women and girls in refugee camps enough privacy, dignity, or safety.

Transcript

00:00If we have a clean washroom, we don't have to worry about getting sick.

00:06The walls are clean, the floor is clean, the doors are clean, the windows are clean.

00:13We don't have to worry about anything.

00:16For Afghan women and girls living in refugee camps in Pakistan,

00:20the lack of proper toilets makes a tough life even harder.

00:25Men, women and children share camp toilet facilities

00:30The poor conditions increase the risk of sexual abuse and harassment.

00:35Women and girls are forced to take extreme measures

00:38to avoid using toilets alone at after dark.

00:43In the past, there was a woman in the bathroom.

00:47When she came out of the bathroom, all the women in the camp would cry.

00:51The women would cry and say,

00:53I don't want to go to the bathroom, I don't want to go to the bathroom.

00:56I don't want to go to the bathroom.

00:58I don't want to go to the bathroom.

01:00I don't want to go to the bathroom.

01:02I don't want to go to the bathroom.

01:05Elsewhere, the situation is even worse.

01:09In this refugee camp in Shadasa's Naguman area,

01:12over 30 families living here receive no support from authorities,

01:17neither local nor international.

01:20Refugees have created their own makeshift toilets for privacy.

01:25When we go to the toilet,

01:28we have to wear a mask,

01:31so that we can safely go to the toilet.

01:38We are afraid that if we go to the toilet,

01:41no one will see us,

01:43no one will see us,

01:45no one will see us,

01:47no one will see us.

01:51The lack of female-only toilets and unhygienic conditions

01:55also affect their health.

01:57Many Afghan refugee women

01:59frequently visit hospitals to seek treatment.

02:02Afghan refugee women come here

02:05with urinary tract infections.

02:09The reason for these urinary tract infections

02:13is that they hold their urine for a long time.

02:19The reason for this is that

02:21either they don't have toilet facilities,

02:23or even if they do have facilities,

02:25the toilets are very unhygienic and at a distance,

02:28which is why they hold their urine for a long time.

02:33Authorities told DW that the lack of funding is a major challenge.

02:39The challenges for the government are funding issues.

02:44The government is doing a lot with its own resources,

02:48but because it is a long period of time,

02:50and there are many refugees living in Pakistan and KPK,

02:54they come here from time to time.

03:00This is one of the difficulties.

03:02They need more funding from donors.

03:04The government welcomes them with its own resources.

03:09Pakistan has been hosting Afghan refugees for over four decades.

03:14As of October 2024,

03:16the UN Refugee Agency estimates

03:18there are some 1.5 million Afghan refugees

03:22and asylum seekers in the country.

03:25More than half live in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

03:30There are a lot of financial and funding constraints,

03:33but we are struggling on behalf of the Afghan Commissionerate

03:37to make women aware of different sessions,

03:41on cleanliness, hygiene,

03:43how to use the toilet,

03:45how to prevent yourself from different infections.

03:49Our staff is involved.

03:51They go to the camps.

03:53We also go there.

03:54We have community mobilizers.

03:56They go to homes and community centres.

03:59They aware all the women who live in the camps.

04:05Despite the ongoing efforts of UNHCR and local authorities,

04:09the situation in refugee camps is far from ideal.

04:14The head of the UNHCR sub-office in Peshawar

04:17admits that more needs to be done

04:20to ensure proper hygiene and sanitation in the camps.

04:24We are working with our partners,

04:26and other funded and non-funded partners,

04:31and other UN agencies like UNICEF and other collaborators

04:36to make sure that all the refugee villages

04:39have sanitation levels that is acceptable

04:43to all our international standards.

04:47We need to do more.

04:48I agree that we are not at where we want to be,

04:52but hopefully we will work with our partners.

04:55I talked to our donors as well in the area of WASH.

04:59Until more funding for these refugee camps is secured,

05:02Afghan women and girls will have to continue waiting for toilets

05:06that will give them the safety and privacy they need.

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