UNHCR welcomes new refugee accord

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday praised this week's agreement with Afghanistan's new Interim Administration on a wide-ranging plan to assist hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons return home this year. Final cabinet approval of the plan, expected in coming weeks, may include an amnesty for returnees. "This agreement provides us with a willing partner," UNHCR spokesman, Yusuf Hassan told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. "This understanding with the interim authorities demonstrates a common recognition and desire to facilitate the return of Afghans back to their homeland and their reintegration into society," he explained. Hassan's comments follow discussions on Wednesday in the Afghan capital Kabul between Afghan Repatriation Minister, Enyatulah Nazir and UNHCR officials on the return home of 3.5 million refugees in Iran and Pakistan and an estimated 1.3 internally displaced Afghans inside the country. According to UNHCR, the agreement covered practical issues such as transportation, return packages, and special assistance to the most vulnerable refugees as well as assisting returnees reintegrate into Afghan society. Nazir said the country's interim government favoured signing agreements with UNHCR and the governments of Pakistan and Iran to cover border issues with the host countries. While significant numbers are not expected before the spring, Hassan maintained the agency was planning on the return of up to a million people between March 2002 and February 2003. This is approximately 20 percent of the estimated five million people who are not at home - either internally displaced or part of the Afghan diaspora. "This would be a very significant return if it happened," Hassan noted, adding since the end of November already 100,000 Afghans had spontaneously returned, a significant amount given weather conditions and the state of security in the country. Regarding an amnesty for returnees to allay fears among refugees that they could face prosecution for offences such as avoiding conscription, Hassan said the agency would monitor this aspect to ensure that returnees feel safe and confident that they would not be prosecuted and their human rights would be protected. UNHCR maintained Nazir reacted positively to the suggestion. Commenting on the issue of returning Afghans, Hassan said: "This is a large scale problem where much needs to be done before more people can be attracted to return home. People are returning to a country with enormous problems, mass devastation and large areas of the country littered with land mines," he explained.