02 November 2001
Text: UNHCR Briefing on Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation, Nov. 2
(Estimated 100,000 flee to Pakistan, despite closed borders) (1410)
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers has "agreed
to disagree" with leaders of Central Asian nations who are unwilling
to open their borders to Afghans attempting to flee violence, hunger
or forced conscription into the Taliban. Lubbers offered that
assessment November 2 through a spokesman after several days of
meetings with leaders in Pakistan and Iran.
Despite the officially closed border, UNHCR estimates that more than
100,000 Afghans have entered Pakistan since September 11 attacks upon
the United States set off a new wave of instability. At a Geneva
briefing, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond cautioned that the estimate is
inexact because refugees may cross the border in hundreds of places,
even on mountain footpaths.
Redmond said UNHCR is working with the Pakistani government to provide
aid for the new "illegal" arrivals, and is urging the government to
allow these refugees to seek aid available at officially authorized
sites without fear of deportation. Despite the "closed border" policy,
Pakistan has allowed vulnerable populations -- women, children, the
elderly and the injured -- to enter.
The outpouring of refugees from Afghanistan long predates September
11. An estimated 4 million Afghans have left their homeland for
neighboring countries over the last 20 years, fleeing war, internal
strife and, more recently, drought. UNHCR has estimated the refugee
total could swell by another 1 million if security and food supplies
within Afghanistan continue to deteriorate.
Drought has so diminished crop yields that food shortages are certain,
regardless of the security situation, say international humanitarian
agencies. They estimate that as many as 7 million people in the region
could face hunger and hardship this winter.
Following is the text of the UNHCR briefing notes:
(begin text)
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
Friday, 2 November 2001
Briefing Notes
Afghanistan: High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers returns from 5-day mission
to Pakistan and Iran
(This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond
- to whom quoted text may be attributed - at the press briefing, on 2
November 2001, at the Palais des Nations.)
High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers returned yesterday from a five-day
mission to Pakistan and Iran, where he reviewed UNHCR preparations for
a possible influx from Afghanistan and held talks with senior
government officials.
Mr. Lubbers said he emphasized in his meetings with officials in both
countries that the first priority of the UN family must be the
provision of urgently needed humanitarian assistance inside
Afghanistan. The question is; of course, can it be delivered in the
right quantities to the right places at the right time? Security
allowing, UNHCR intends to make use of its existing network of local
staff and more than 100 local NGO partners in Afghanistan to continue
and expand its so-called quick impact projects and other forms of
support and assistance for returnees, displaced persons and other
affected populations.
The closed-border policies of both Pakistan and Iran remain in effect.
The High Commissioner told the leaders of both countries that he
understands they have a responsibility for the security of their state
and the well-being of their people. At the same time, as the
international agency given a mandate for the protection of refugees,
UNHCR has its own responsibilities and continues to urge that borders
be open to all of those in need of protection and assistance.
So, in Mr. Lubbers' words, while we agree to disagree on the
fundamental question of open borders, we will also try to work
together with Afghanistan's neighboring states to try to ensure that
those most vulnerable can receive temporary protection and assistance.
This means, for example, that women, children, elderly, the sick and
wounded would be cared for in Pakistan in the sites we have already
identified with Pakistan authorities. About 15 of those sites, with a
capacity of about 150,000 could start operations now and we are
working on a capacity for another 150,000 in Pakistan in this first
phase of the UNHCR response. We are ready to begin transferring some
of the 2,400 vulnerable people at the Killi Faizo staging area near
the Chaman border crossing to one of the nearby camps as soon as
possible.
Discussions were also held on the use of the new UNHCR camps for the
transfer of Afghans who recently arrived at the makeshift Jalozai site
near Peshawar. We are also working on arrangements with the government
for some of the tens of thousands of recent "illegal" arrivals --
people who have entered Pakistan through back routes because official
crossing points are closed -- to be authorized to make their way to
the new camps without fear of deportation. Many of these people are in
need of support and assistance but are afraid to come out of the
shadows for fear of being sent back to Afghanistan.
There are no firm statistics on the total number of these new arrivals
from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the aftermath of Sept. 11 but we are
beginning to get a somewhat clearer picture and now estimate the
number is more than 100,000. We hope to come up with a reasonably
scientific figure for the whole of Pakistan in the next few days. One
of the problems in compiling an estimate is that, by one count, there
are as many as 300 crossing points from Afghanistan into Pakistan,
including numerous mountain footpaths. And for as long as new arrivals
are not channelled into camps, this makes estimating the total number
of new arrivals exceptionally difficult.
What we do know is the following. In North-West Frontier Province, a
detailed and systematic survey carried out by UNHCR in Peshawar and in
the old refugee camps in NWFP from 17-25 October revealed that around
65,000 new arrivals had come from Afghanistan since 11 September. Over
the past week, an average of around 2,500 Afghans are known to have
crossed the border by a variety of different crossing points. Then on
Wednesday, the number jumped to just under 5,000 for the day. I don't
have yesterday's figure yet. But it is not quite clear at this point
how many of these arrivals could be considered people fleeing because
of fears of war, persecution, conscription, drought or other
compelling humanitarian reasons, and how many are traders, smugglers
or others engaged in more routine cross-border business. In
neighboring Baluchistan Province to the south of NWFP, no overall
estimate is currently available for the number of new arrivals, or
indeed of those Afghans who may have entered the country and gone
further afield to Karachi and other more distant towns and cities.
However, judging from the limited data that has so far been available
from the main Chaman crossing in Baluchistan, this would certainly be
in the tens of thousands.
Yesterday, no new arrivals were permitted to enter the Killi Faizo
staging camp near Quetta, in the southern Pakistan province of
Baluchistan, so the number in the camp remains at around 2,400. We
hope to start tranferring these people to camps nearby, possibly as
early as today, so there will be room at the staging site for more
vulnerables who may be on the way. UNHCR staff at the border yesterday
could see around 20 families waiting on the far side of the border,
but by the end of the day none appeared to have been permitted to
enter. An unknown number of Afghans are believed to be further back in
the Spin Boldak area, either in a Taliban-controlled camp or in the
town. It seems to have been getting increasingly difficult for them to
get near the border, let alone cross it. However, the local
authorities maintain that the policy of allowing vulnerable people to
enter and receive assistance remains the same.
UNHCR has been receiving generous support from donors who have now
provided $56.5 million US dollars to the Afghanistan emergency to date
-- a sufficient amount to enable UNHCR to handle the first 400,000
refugees from Afghanistan to Iran, Pakistan and the Central Asian
republics. Most of the funds have been donated by governments, but
$4.5 million came from individual donors in a number of countries. The
largest private donor amount -- $1.5 million -- was raised by
individuals in Italy, followed by private donors in the United States.
(end text)
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