Military

DATE=12/07/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN REFUGEES (L-O)

NUMBER=2-284027

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: International aid agencies say they are concerned that Afghans in the north of the country may face starvation because aid cannot reach them. Dale Gavlak in Geneva reports that Afghan refugees are being cautioned against returning home too quickly.

TEXT: The Organization for International Migration (I-O-M) says that some 177 Afghans, mainly children, died recently from hunger and exposure to extremely cold temperatures in a squalid refugee camp in the northern region of Kunduz.

I-O-M spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy says his agency was only able to distribute aid on six days during the past seven weeks.

///CHAUZY ACT///

In these situations, where assistance cannot be delivered, the most vulnerable always go first and in that case, it was young children and some elderly people.

///END CHAUZY ACT///

/// OPT /// I-O-M says ten truckloads of wheat are heading to Kunduz from Tajikistan, while a convoy carrying jackets, winterized tents and high-energy biscuits is soon expected to arrive to aid some eight-thousand families.

The Taleban had denied I-O-M workers access to the refugee camp following the September terrorist attacks in the United States. Although the Northern Alliance gained control of Kunduz late last month, the I-O-M only received permission to deliver food aid earlier this week. The area has suffered from three successive years of drought. /// END OPT ///

In southern Afghanistan, the World Food Program (W-F-P) says the improving political situation around Kandahar may eventually allow the distribution of aid. Spokeswoman Christiane Bertiaume says W-F-P hopes to resume its work there soon.

///BERTIAUME ACT///

There's at least more than 230-thousand people who are in need of food over there. The last time we have been able to give them food was in September, just before the Taleban occupied our offices and warehouse, so they have nothing.

///END BERTIAUME ACT///

The United Nations refugee agency, the U-N-H-C-R, says the Taleban surrender of Kandahar has so far had little effect on thousands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Although 200 people a day are reported to be returning home from Pakistan. Peter Kessler of the refugee agency says the infrastructure is not adequate inside Afghanistan to aid large numbers of returnees and he cautions against returning home too quickly.

///KESSLER ACT///

This is not the time to rush home. And this is not the time for Afghans to be rushed home by the host countries. The situation inside the country is extremely fragile, the decades of war, the tons of military ordnance, the recent bombing and of course the drought have created a very fragile situation.

///END KESSLER ACT///

Mr. Kessler says Afghan facilities could be easily overwhelmed by the return of some three-and-a-half million refugees outside their homeland. (Signed)

NEB/DG/GE/KBK