• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

DATE=09/29/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-267255

TITLE=UNHCR / AFGHANISTAN (L ONLY)

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says in the last ten days more than eight-thousand Afghans have crossed into Pakistan to escape fighting in northeast Afghanistan. Lisa Schlein in Geneva says the refugee agency has received reports that thousands more Afghans are on their way to Pakistan.

TEXT: The refugees are predominantly Dari speaking from Baghlan, Parwan and Kapisa provinces. The new arrivals say they fled their homes to escape fighting between Taleban and opposition forces.

The U-N-H-C-R spokesman for the southwest Asia region, Yusuf Hassan, says the refugees tell of running away from aerial attacks in which other members of their families were killed.

/// HASSAN ACT ///

One of them said he had lost four brothers. Another said he had lost two of his children in the conflict, which has been escalating in the past few months. We are going to get a clearer picture of the situation that they have fled as soon as we are ready to move them to a more secure place. At the moment, they are camped out in the open and it is very difficult to carry out some intensive interviews with them.

/// END ACT ///

The refugees are in a makeshift area out in the open in Jalozai, about 25 kilometers east of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's north-west province. Mr. Hassan says they have erected temporary shelters made out of plastic sheets, pieces of clothes and blankets. He says the site has no toilets and no access to safe drinking water. Torrential rains are making poor conditions worse.

Mr. Hassan says the Pakistani government is sending a team to the area to interview and screen the refugees. He says the U-N-H-C-R can't transfer the refugees to better camp facilities until this process is completed.

/// HASSAN 2nd ACT ///

There is a concern on the part of the government of Pakistan to make sure that all the people who are coming in are genuine refugees. And, as far as we can ascertain, the numbers that have come in are all Dari- speaking people. Most of them have never been out of their country or have not left their homes for a very long time. They are almost certainly coming from the areas where there is conflict at the moment.

///END ACT///

Mr. Hassan says the adult refugees are in fairly good condition. But he says the children are in a very bad state. He says many are ill and suffering from different kinds of diseases. (Signed)

NEB/LS/KL/KBK