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Surviving war – and the cold

One winter month in 2012, at least 22 children froze to death at a refugee camp in Kabul. There were many snowstorms during that incredibly cold winter – the coldest in 20 years. At night, the temperature often dropped to -20°C.

After ten years in Afghanistan, the aid workers were astonished that children could die of something as predictable as the cold.

Most of the refugees living in the camps have fled the fighting in the province of Helmand. Some of them have lived here for seven years already, while others have arrived over the past year.

(Photos: Reto Albertalli / phovea)


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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR