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| When will
it be safe for Afghan refugees to return home? |
By
Aamir Latif, IOL Pakistan correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
March 7 (IslamOnline) - Despite the fall of the Taliban government and calls
from the world community regarding the reconstruction of war-ravaged
Afghanistan, a majority of more than 3 million Afghan refugees remain beyond
their homeland borders. They are afraid to return due to fears of violence
and ethnic harassment, a human rights group said on Wednesday.
Human
Rights Watch, in a 45-page report titled "Closed Door Policy: Afghan
Refugees in Pakistan and Iran," cautioned against the hasty
repatriation of refugees until conditions in Afghanistan become more stable.
The group also called for an end to alleged persecution of refugees
currently in Pakistan and Iran.
"While
many Afghan refugees want to go home, there are others terrified of
returning at this time," said Rachel Reilly, Refugee Policy Director at
Human Rights Watch. "Ethnically motivated attacks, lawlessness and
fighting between rival warlords remain rampant in some areas."
The
group says the vast majority of Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan and Iran
before the U.S.-led toppling of the Taliban government last year. Human
Rights Watch interviewed many refugees from various ethnic groups who fear
continuing human rights abuses inside Afghanistan.
Moreover,
while 140,000 Afghans did return home in the last six weeks, 50,000 new
refugees fled. Ethnic Pashtun refugees are often assumed to be Taliban
sympathizers and fear reprisal attacks, the group said.
One
woman interviewed for the report said she feared looting and violence.
"I am Pashtun and not with the Taliban, but people may think I am with
them and they will punish me and become angry with me," the woman said.
Two men of Pashtun ethnicity also voiced concerns about reprisals, notably
by Hazaras, Uzbeks and Shi'ites.
The
report also described brutal treatment of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, at
both unofficial border crossings and in the camps. Refugees said they were
beaten and harassed for not having identity documents and endured beatings
by Pakistani police when lining up for food in the camps.
"Many
Afghan refugees are in a no-win situation. They have endured violence in
Afghanistan and many fear going home, but they also live with harassment and
violence in Pakistan and Iran," Human Rights Watch's Reilly said.
The
group urged Pakistan and Iran to identify refugees who need protection and
provide them with documentation and legal status, and to end human rights
abuses. The group also called for adequate funding by donor nations to the
Afghan Interim Authority's Ministry for the Return of Refugees and for the
voluntary return of refugees under secure conditions.
The
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is planning to open seven
voluntary repatriation centers in Pakistan, each with a capacity to process
5,000 people per day, with the first one due to start operating on March 1
in Tartabek, outside Peshawar.
UNCHR
plans to register tens of thousands of people a day in Pakistan and Iran and
establish distribution centers to supply returnees with food and other
necessary items.
