New influx of Afghan refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday that a new influx of some 3,500 Afghan refugees had arrived at the Chaman border crossing on Tuesday in Pakistan's southern province of Baluchistan.

"The latest arrival is that of some 700 families arriving on Tuesday," agency spokeswomen, Melita Sunjic, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. She added that Pakistan allowed some 400 to 500 vulnerable individuals including sick, elderly and pregnant women to cross everyday.

Highlighting the reasons of their arrival, she said that primarily it was because people did not receive assistance inside Afghanistan. She added some newly arrived Afghan refugees claimed that as Pashtuns - the same ethnic group as the hardline Taliban - they faced problems in the cities of northern Afghanistan such Kunduz and Mazar-e Sharif where the majority are of different ethnic origin.

Asked what UNHCR would do about them, she explained that they were very concerned about these refugees. "We are looking into their complaints to establish whether they are valid," she said.

The refugees displaced along the 2,300 km long porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan live in deplorable conditions. In a tragic incident on Monday, two women and an infant died in the newly established Leejay Karez refugee camp, situated some 400 km west of the provincial capital Quetta in the Chaghi district of Baluchistan, after fire broke out in their tent on Monday night. Islamic Relief, an international NGO managing the camp in partnership with UNHCR called for an investigation into the incident.

Abdul Manan Bhatti, country director of the agency, told IRIN on Wednesday that the fire had not been started deliberately. The agency's press statement on Tuesday observed: "We are also planning to increase our vigilance and place greater emphasis on educating the refugees regarding safe practices."

UNHCR currently operates 13 refugee camps and one transit site in Pakistan, housing 151,000 new Afghan refugees who left their country following the beginning of the US-led military strikes against Afghanistan in October last year.