High in the mountains of Afghanistan’s remote Badakhshan province, Jerow Bala village is home to several hundred families who make a living farming the steep hillsides.  

On 28 April this year, life in Jerow Bala was disrupted when a deadly landslide tore through the village. The landslide destroyed all of the village’s 97 houses and left 52 people dead, including 22 children. The families fled the village, now smothered in rubble and mud, and sought shelter on higher ground. Many families were living in the open. 

Floods earlier in the year had damaged the only roads into Jerow Bala, cutting off the families who had just lost their homes and livelihoods from the rest of Afghanistan.  

When Darwish Mashal, a Project Assistant for IOM’s Humanitarian Assistance Program working in Badakhshan’s capital Faizabad, heard the first reports about the landslide, he knew that action had to be taken immediately in order to prevent even more loss of life.  

Working in coordination with the Afghan government and the UN, IOM reached Jerow Bala by helicopter the day after the landslide to deliver initial aid and assess needs on the ground. 

“Everyone there was frightened and freezing in the cold weather,” recalled Darwish. “It was especially hard to see the children, as they were so shocked and scared. Some looked so bad it was as if they had already died.” 

IOM and its partners delivered tents, tarpaulins, blankets and food to help the families get through the first difficult nights, and quickly began planning for additional distributions. 

“The remoteness of the village was a major challenge,” said Darwish. “There was just one small bridge that could only be crossed by one person at a time.” 

Over the following days, IOM returned to Jerow Bala on flights carrying shelters that could withstand the harsh weather, clothing, blankets, food, cooking gas and other essentials supplies. 

“For the first time in days, I saw people smiling when we distributed these items, despite all of the hardship they had suffered,” said Darwish. 

A total of 237 families received assistance from IOM. Though it will take time to rebuild their homes and lives, the assistance will help to ease the burden of their displacement. 

Afghanistan is one of the most hazard-prone countries in south Asia, facing earthquakes, floods, droughts, landslides, sandstorms and avalanches. The UN estimates that approximately 250,000 Afghans are affected by natural disasters every year.  

Since 2008, IOM has been working in Afghanistan to assist natural disaster-affected and displaced populations, strengthen the disaster response capacity of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) and reduce risks in disaster-prone communities.