UN Afghan Evacuation and Relocation Creates Real-Estate Woes For Staffers

After this deadly attack on a UN guest house here in Kabul, the UN has announced that they are evacuating about 600 of their 1,100 workers here and relocating the remaining staff to the UN International Community Association (UNICA) compound.

The remaining UN staffers that I’ve spoken with are irritated because many of them rent decent private homes here in Kabul where they feel safe. But UNICA is a dingy, dorm-like experience with some pretty grim shared bathrooms and a big sign out front that says “UN.” In addition, The UNICA guest house–run by a private company–is charging 60 USD a night to the UN staffers who are forced to live there, while I know journalists who have stayed for closer to 25.

“It’s not like UNICA is any safer,” one UN staffer told me. “Everybody will know we’re in there. My house now is really comfortable and low-profile.”

UN staffers currently rent nearly 100 apartments and houses throughout Kabul. The ones I’ve been in are funky, one level homes, that remind me of houses in South Florida. They tend to have large patios, small kitchens and tons of natural light.

UNICA on the other hand is a fortress. A giant metal door (blue, natch) faces the street and men with AK’s lounge about, drinking tea and guarding the front gate. UNICA does have a decent swimming pool (with pool-side bar) and French girls in bikinis can be found there, but the restaurant is just ok and expensive at 12-15 USD a plate.

Some UN workers have also complained to me that they’ve already paid the rent through Nov., and will essentially have to pay rent at two places for the rest of this month. There will also soon be a glut of empty houses on the rental market here, which could lower rents for the rest of us.

Regardless, UN security planners are convinced that staff is safer in a “Green Zone” type residence, like the US erected in Baghdad.

“I asked my security guy why they couldn’t just have a rapid reaction force on standby in case trouble started in one of the [non-UNICA] houses,” one UN worker told me. “He said, ‘By the time I got a rapid reaction force to you, you’d already be dead.’”