DATE=9/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN - UNHCR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266561
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, Sadako Ogata, says the ongoing civil war
coupled with the harsh policies of the ruling Taleban
Islamic Movement in Afghanistan have discouraged many
refugees from returning home. As VOA's Scott Anger
reports, Ms. Ogata will travel to Afghanistan to hold
meetings with senior Taleban officials during a trip
aimed at focusing world attention on the long running
Afghan refugee crisis.
TEXT: The United Nations program for refugees has
repatriated more than 3 million Afghan refugees since
the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in
1989. But over 2 million Afghan refugees still live
in neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata says
her mission is to help focus world attention on what
the world body calls the largest and longest running
refugee crisis in the world.
She says aid donors have become reluctant to fund
refugee programs as a result of the continuing civil
war and the strict law imposed by the Taleban
movement, who control more than 90 percent of the
country. In particular, Ms. Ogata says donor
countries are not happy with restrictions placed on
most women in Afghanistan.
///Ogata Act///
The issue (women's rights) would certainly be very
high on the agenda of my discussions. I think the
importance of human rights issue, and especially the
way the women's rights have been deprived, is a very
strong cause of Taleban not getting international
recognition.
///End Act///
A poor human rights record and the alleged links
between the Taleban and international terrorists have
blocked the hard-line movement's attempts to win
international recognition for its control over most of
the country. The Taleban, which has barred most girls
from receiving an education and women from working
outside their homes, has promised to ease these
restrictions on women once peace returns to
Afghanistan.
Since capturing the capital Kabul in 1996, the Taleban
has failed to overcome the opposition alliance in the
northern part of the country. Recent fighting between
the warring factions has produced tens of thousands of
refugees within Afghanistan.
Ms. Ogata says conditions have to improve, and the
hostilities must end in Afghanistan, in order to
further fund the repatriation program and encourage
refugees to return home. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/PLM
15-Sep-2000 11:29 AM EDT (15-Sep-2000 1529 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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