Multiple movements of Afghans reported: UNHCR

The multiple movement of Afghans leaving and entering Pakistan has been continuing, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told IRIN on Thursday. Pakistan shares almost 2,500 km of porous border with Afghanistan, a country suffering from the twin scourges of war and the worst drought in living memory.

"It appears that there are some areas where people are quite comfortable to go back to while others feel threatened and insecure, forcing them to seek assistance in neighbouring countries," agency spokesman, Yusuf Hassan said in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Of the 16,934 Afghans who entered Pakistan through the southern province of Baluchistan over the past three weeks, 13,000 were registered at the Killi Faizo transit centre adjacent to the Chaman border post and transferred to the Dara and Lani Karez refugee camps. At the same time, more than 58,000 spontaneously returned home from Pakistan.

According to agency figures, 33,365 originated from Baluchistan, while more than 24,672 left Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) by way of the Torkham border crossing between 16 and 22 January.

"The pattern of displacement is quite apparent in the south of the country given the lack of assistance and the protracted drought felt throughout the country," Hassan said. "The power vacuum left by the Taliban in the south has led to the emergence of many armed elements preying on innocent civilians, victims of this new insecurity in southern areas of the country," he explained.

Asked how many people had entered NWFP from Afghanistan, Hassan maintained that while people were still managing to get in, there were no accurate figures available. He added, however, the number was less than the number entering Baluchistan.

Meanwhile in Iran, which shares over 900 km of border with Afghanistan, UNHCR officials told IRIN on Thursday that the number of spontaneous Afghan returnees who had gone back to their homeland since 1 January had reached 14,472. Asked if there were still people entering the country, agency spokesman, Mohammad Nouri in the Iranian capital Tehran said: "While we cannot deny the possible entry of new arrivals into the country, we have no figures as they quickly disappear once they arrive."

Tehran effectively sealed its border with Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September. Prior to that, Iran maintained between 700 and 1,000 Afghan refugees were entering the country illegally every day. Fearing a major influx of new refugees into the country, Iran instead chose to provide assistance to displaced people at two camps administered by the Iranian Red Crescent just inside Afghan territory.

Iran and Pakistan have played host to millions of Afghans fleeing the war, drought and hunger for the past 20 years. The UN estimates there are 2.3 million Afghan refugees in Iran today and another two million in Pakistan. Both countries have repeatedly called upon the international community to shoulder some of the burden.