Students in the Notre Dame Peace Coalition will set up tents on South Quad this morning for a two-day campout to demonstrate solidarity with refugees in Afghanistan.

"Our main purpose is to educate people about the situation," said Megan Renner, a member of the Coalition and planner of the campout. "It is true that the Americans and the United Nations and some other organizations are sending a lot of aid, but many obstacles need to be cleared before that will be effective."

Following a 24-hour prayer vigil, the event will conclude Tuesday evening with a Mass at the campsite at 5 p.m. After the Mass, the Peace Coalition will hold an Afghan dinner in Pasquerilla East Hall. All events are open to the public.

Although organizers hope to raise awareness on the plight of Afghan refugees, they added their campout will not reflect what life is really like in refugee camps.

"We do not intend to re-create the conditions of a refugee camp, because it would be impossible to re-create either the physical conditions or the mental stress refugees have to endure," said Krista Schoening, a campout organizer and member of the Peace Coalition. "We simply want to call attention to the situation of the Afghanistan refugees so that they will not be forgotten. They, too, are victims in this war on terrorism."

In fact, organizers were motivated by a belief that the U.S. media has forgotten about refugees in their reporting on the war in Afghanistan, according to Renner.

"We're really not hearing much about the refugees anymore," she said. "We wanted to make sure the refugees stay in the thoughts and prayers of other people as well."

Some 4 million refugees have fled Afghanistan and more than 1.3 million people are displaced within its borders. Most observers agree that at least 4,000 Afghan civilians were killed in the bombing between Oct. 7 and Dec. 29.

Despite the end of the bombing campaign, the routing of the Taliban regime, and some $35 million in emergency humanitarian aid from the United States, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more than 50,000 people have sought safety in Pakistan since Dec. 31.

The idea for the campout originated with the Peace Coalition's Nonviolent Social Change committee last semester, Renner said. Plans for the event have been in progress since January.

Contact Erin LaRuffa at elaruffa@nd.edu

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