UNHCR warns of increased human trafficking

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers warned on Monday that the international community's failure to find long-term solutions for refugees was driving them increasingly towards human smugglers. He added that there was a growing intolerance, as well as xenophobia, in asylum states, and that Afghans were particularly vulnerable to these phenomena. "Clearly the international community has not paid attention to Afghan refugees for years," the spokesman for UNHCR in Islamabad, Peter Kessler, told IRIN on Tuesday. Even before the barbaric acts of 11 September, Afghans constituted the largest refugee population in the world, with some 4 million spread out between Iran, Pakistan and a multitude of other countries in the world, Lubbers said. The UN estimates that another one million Afghans will pour into Pakistan, and 500,000 into Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, following news of possible US strikes in Afghanistan. "We are preparing for a massive relief operation," Lubbers said of the current emergency, in which 7.5 million Afghans are in need of aid. UNHCR has in the past expressed concern over the increasing hostility towards Afghans, and Lubbers said the fight against xenophobia "must be a top priority". There have been cases in Pakistan of Afghans being deported and mistreated by police. In Iran, employers found with Afghan workers are being fined - another sign that neighbouring countries are no longer willing to take on the extra burden of refugees. The refugee agency maintains that Afghanistan's neighbours also had a part to play in ensuring the safety of Afghans. "Countries in this region have also not worked in a productive way to find a solution to help the Afghan people," Kessler said. Lubbers noted that by declaring protection of refugees without lasting solutions was "not protection". He said UNHCR and the international community must now focus more on voluntary repatriation, local integration in countries of first asylum, or resettlement to third countries. Lubbers said the deteriorating situation facing Afghans inside their homeland and in surrounding countries was forcing them towards smugglers and human trafficking, which, he said, was on the rise. "With regular arrival routes closed, many refugees continue to turn to smugglers to reach safety in spite of the dangers involved," he said. Lubbers used the recent example of the 400 asylum seekers rescued from a sinking ship off Indonesia by a Norwegian freighter to highlight the extent of the human trafficking problem. UNHCR officials warned that many refugees were putting their lives at risk by getting involved in the smuggling trade when they could see no other way out of their miserable conditions. "Afghans are the largest group of asylum seekers in the world, and many are falling into the hands of traffickers and are dying on the way to their desired destination," one official said.