Deportation of Afghans halted

Foreign diplomats in Tajikistan have received government assurances that there will be no further deportations of Afghan refugees. The pledge followed an incident in September when nine Afghan refugees were forced to leave. "We are pleased with the response from the government and we hope the remaining Afghan community will be safe," UK ambassador to Tajikistan, Michael Smith, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. "We are concerned about this incident and also have concerns over the remaining Afghans in the country," he added. A joint decision was taken by the US, UK and German embassies, as well as the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Dushanbe to try and prevent further deportations. The assurances from the government came last Friday after meetings with the deputy Tajik foreign minister. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also expressed concern over the deportations which took place on 15 September. The refugees, all men, were separated from their families a day earlier and detained by the Tajik authorities. "We believe that one of the refugees deported on Tuesday was a 17 year-old boy. We understand that a tenth refugee picked up remains in detention," UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva, Kris Janowski, said during a news conference following the event. UNHCR wrote to the Tajik authorities protesting the detention and deportation of the refugees, saying that they "may face grave danger back in Afghanistan because of their association with previous Afghan regimes who may still fear for their safety if sent back to Afghanistan." The refugee agency has helped more than 9,200 Afghan refugees return home voluntarily from Tajikistan. Refugees in Tajikistan are in a particularly precarious situation following the suspension of screening for refugee status by the authorities two years ago. Without a status procedure, Afghan refugees in the Central Asian nation find themselves in a legal limbo. "This, we believe, must be corrected immediately," Janowski said. Some areas of Afghanistan, particularly in the north and also eastern border regions near Pakistan, remain tense. Troops allied to various commanders continue to engage in fighting. More than 920,000 people are still internally displaced in the war-torn country and unable to return to their home areas. With winter approaching, there are particular concerns for more than 560,000 people in Afghanistan. "We are trying to stockpile emergency supplies of blankets, stoves, tents and plastic tarpaulins," he said, adding that food stocks for millions of impoverished Afghans also remained limited.