Welcome no more

Once the toast of the West, the people of Afghanistan today find aid hard to come by. B. Muralidhar Reddy reports on the refugee crisis.

ONCE HAILED as warriors of the faith and revolutionaries, the people of Afghanistan today find aid hard to come by. Having used them as fodder in its proxy war against the erstwhile Soviet Union, the United States and its allies were the first to shun them. The support in kind and cash that poured in from the West for ten years during the Soviet invasion disappeared into thin air as the USSR disintegrated. The image of an Afghan, in the eyes of the western world, turned from that of a fighter into a potential troublemaker.

As the Soviets withdrew and Afghanistan plunged into a civil war, the people were left to fend for themselves. The much-awaited peace never returned. Actually the internal situation became worse forcing thousands of Afghans to flee their country in search of safety and livelihood.

Neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, which accommodated huge refugee populations during the Afghan war, were flooded with new arrivals in the post-Soviet era. It is over 12 years since Afghanistan was `liberated' but thanks to the unending war between the rival factions, there has been a steady increase in the refugee population. Pakistan alone has two million refugees from Afghanistan. And this is the official figure. The unofficial count is much higher. Likewise, the official estimate of Afghan refugees in Iran is 1.5 million.

Pakistan prided itself as a frontline ally of the United States during the cold war and was only too happy to play host to the hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing the country. It got rich dividends in the process. Millions of dollars of aid poured in along with the most sophisticated military equipment and everyone was happy.

But things changed. First, the Soviets decided to pull out of Afghanistan and then followed the tumultuous events leading to the disintegration of the superpower. The events were bound to leave their imprint on Pakistan particularly vis-a-vis Afghanistan. The repercussions are beginning to be felt.

In a way Pakistan has been left holding the baby. In recent weeks, the military establishment has sought to make a fundamental shift from the policies of the past at least on the refugee front. But at every step it is confronted with obstacles.

As friend, philosopher and guide of the Taliban regime, the Pakistan military establishment faced a delicate task in taking a forthright stance on the ever-growing refugee problem. But the civil unrest in the provinces where Afghan refugees have settled down and the severe resource crunch forced the Pakistan Government to close its borders to prevent further inflow of refugees.

The presence of such a huge number of refugees in the North West Frontier Province (NFWP) has indeed triggered serious socio- economic problems for Pakistan. It is not just the pressure on the limited economic resources but the ills of drugs and crime that forced the Pakistan Government to review its policy towards refugees.

But the decision to close the border made little difference to the desperate Afghans fleeing the worst drought in the last several decades and the continuing fighting between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance Opposition forces. So the refugees keep pouring.

A cursory glance at cold figures is enough to understand the compulsions of the Pakistani Government as well as the Afghan refugees. According to U.N. estimates, 12 million out of Afghanistan's 22 million population is affected by the severe drought. Pakistan's limitations in hosting the unending stream of visitors from across the border is evident from the simple fact that in 2000 while the U.N. made an appeal for an assistance of $229 millions, less than $18 millions was pledged. The international community is just not responding to the repeated pleas for more help. The U.N. agencies call it `donor fatigue' syndrome.

Can Pakistan then be blamed for being afflicted by `host fatigue'? The military Government insisted on not allowing any fresh registration of refugees. The policy landed the military Government in a row with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other U.N. agencies. The new refugees were all huddled up in a camp near Peshawar that is legally and technically out of reach of the U.N. as they cannot be treated as refugees as they have not been registered.

Ever since the U.N. Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on the Taliban regime in January this year, the Pakistan Government has been pleading with the U.N. and its agencies to open camps within Afghanistan so that the refugees are not forced to cross over. The contention of the UNHCR is that its mandate is to help refugees and not to set up relief camps inside a country.

The camp where about one lakh unregistered Afghan refugees are huddled is the focus of much attention by the international media and the U.N. agencies. The UNHCR has sought permission for screening the refugees to enable it to render what help is possible, but the Pakistan Government pleads helplessness. The case of the military establishment in Islamabad is that screening of the refugees amounts to granting recognition to people who are essentially `economic migrants'. Screening would only mean inviting more refugees from across the border. The debate goes on.

As things stand, there appears to be little hope for any solution to the problem. The ideal situation would be for the warring factions to agree to a broad-based government in Afghanistan. But at the moment, neither side is in a mood to listen.

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