MSF concerned about repatriation drive from Iran

Two days before the start of a major campaign to assist hundreds of thousands of Afghans repatriate to their homeland from Iran, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), one of the leading international NGOs in the area, raised serious concerns over the timing of the operation. "The date fixed to begin the plan is certainly premature," MSF head of mission, Bruno Jochum told IRIN from the Iranian capital, Tehran on Sunday. Not enough time was given for UNHCR to prepare the programme properly, especially on the Afghan side, he maintained. Slated to begin on Tuesday, the joint programme between UNHCR and the Iranian government aims to assist up to 400,000 Afghans voluntarily return their country. Participants in the programme are provided free transportation by UNHCR to the border area upon registration at one of nine voluntary repatriation centres (VRC) established in Iran. On arrival in Afghanistan, the returnees are given a small monetary grant, as well as some additional food and non-food related items to assist them. A similar assistance programme underway in neighbouring Pakistan has already succeeded in assisting over 200,000 return home since 1 March. But while MSF acknowledged UNHCR's awareness of certain constraints, it remained concerned over the operational side of the agreement and the risk that neigbouring countries (Iran and Pakistan - the two largest host countries to Afghan refugees) would pressurise the refugee community to reach the target number stated in the official agreement. In Iran, given the tense economic and social context, the pressure on the government to deliver on this subject was extremely high, he warned. Already in the last three weeks alone, around 6,800 Afghans had been forcibly returned through Milak, the border post between the eastern Iranian province of Sistan Baluchistan and the south- western Afghan province of Nimruz, Jochum claimed. Among these refugees were several cases of families who had lived in Iran for years - legal document holders and unaccompanied minors. Among the single men, several spontaneously reported physical mistreatments in the detention centres they went through, he added. According to MSF, more than half the refugees in Iran don't have legal status. The tripartite agreement on repatriation signed between UNHCR, Iran and Afghanistan last Wednesday in Geneva provides them with guarantees relating to the truly voluntary character of their return. Unless they were based in the future on a UNHCR screening process to determine who was or was not a refugee, such forcible returns contradicted the spirit of the agreement, Bruno maintained. Confronted everyday with trends that were a cause of serious concerns, MSF staff have cited instability and poor security in many provinces, especially on the roads of western and northern Afghanistan as well as acts of persecution against ethnic Pastuns in northern provinces. Food security problems, lack of available housing in the main towns such as the western city of Herat and the capital, Kabul and the lack of effective health structures to take care of the population are all concerns. The ongoing drought in several areas remains an issue too for organisations like MSF. Bruno noted that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was helping people at the Maslakh displaced persons camp near Herat return to the western Badghis province, the main province of origin, while in a reverse movement, groups of displaced Pashtuns were fleeing the same province and arriving in Herat or continuing their journey to neighbouring Pakistan. Citing the ongoing conflict in eastern Paktia province, the risk of sporadic or open conflict in the following months could not be excluded either, whether it be between rival "warlords" or against the foreign forces present in the country, he explained, adding: "In such a volatile context, it would be a major mistake to actively promote repatriation". The announced figures of 800,000 returnees in 2002 from Iran and Pakistan will prove an enormous challenge for a country which is only just recovering from 20 years of non-stop war and a ruined economy. MSF warns such a massive return may simply fuel the growth of IDP camps in cities like Herat and Kabul, adding many refugees who have become urbanised in Iran and Pakistan, will only return to cities even if they originally came from rural villages. In addition to guarantees that all returns be voluntary, MSF has called for the availability of accurate information and for refugees to base their decision on accurate information on living conditions in the areas they intend to return to. The agency also wants the security of returnees to be safeguarded through international monitoring. Moreover, MSF has called for greater sustainability through sufficient food distribution to returnee populations. "Only three months' supply of wheat flour or wheat grains will be distributed by WFP in the repatriation package, whereas most of them will have missed the planting period," Jochum said. In areas where access to food was already an acute problem, this quantity was not enough and was nutritionally not complete (lack of oil and proteins), he added. Jochum insisted that the repatriation programme must be supported by a massive economic aid plan. "Without such support, repatriation will quickly become unsustainable and in fact worsen the general situation of the country," he maintained.