January 10, 2002	Thursday	Shawwal 25, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: The number of Afghan refugees in the no-man’s land along the Chaman border has swelled to 3,250 as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees continues to press Pakistan for opening the borders while acknowledging its security concerns for stopping the infiltration of fighters.

Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday, UNHCR spokesperson, Yousaf Hasan, said discussions were continuing with the border authorities to allow more people camping out into the nearby transit centre.

Earlier, a UNHCR press release said Pakistan had reinforced security and closed the border over the weekend.

The UNHCR said the refugees were fleeing due to the lack of international aid and the fear of bombing as the search continued in southern Afghanistan for Taliban leader Mulla Mohammed Omar and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Appreciating the heightened security concerns at the border with Afghanistan, the UNHCR, in a statement, insisted that borders remain open for innocent people fleeing for safety.

Previous calls by UNHCR to both Pakistan and Iran to open their borders to the refugees were also rejected by the two countries, who argue that the international community has given them little help in dealing with 3.5 million Afghans already in their territories.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR was making contingency plans for significant numbers of Afghan refugees to return to their country this year, with tens of thousands having already made the homeward journey in recent weeks.

In the past, the agency had cautioned against a massive, disorganised return of Afghans to their country because of the omnipresence of landmines and the destruction caused by two decades of war.

The return figure from Iran and Pakistan since the end of November is about 80,000 — 35,000 from Pakistan and 45,000 from Iran.

While more refugees continue to return home than those who arrive in Pakistan and Iran, the UNHCR and other organisations have to deal with a wave of uprooted people fleeing southern and eastern Afghanistan because continuing insecurity has prevented them from distributing aid there.

On Sunday, UNHCR opened its eighth border camp for refugees in Pakistan, with more than 1,000 uprooted people entering the Shelman camp in the NWFP. They were relocated from Jalozai.

Since November 2001, the spokesman said, the UNHCR has moved more than 92,000 new arrivals, 68,400 in Baluchistan and 23,700 in the NWFP, into new camps.

At least 3,327 refugees remain in the Killi Faizo transit centre near the Chaman border crossing, he said.

APP adds: Some 200,000 Afghans are estimated to have entered Pakistan since last September, most living with relatives in refugee settlements or in urban areas, a UNHCR spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“There are currently some 95,000 newly arrived Afghans settled in nine UNHCR-assisted camps in Pakistan, split between the south-western Balochistan province and the North-Western Frontier Province,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, UNHCR staff in the NWFP had relocated more than 1,800 Afghans, including some 1,000 recent arrivals from Jalozai and more than 800 undocumented Afghans living in Peshawar city who came forward seeking UN assistance and protection, to the new camps.

Some 20,000 refugees have been relocated from Jalozai since November.

Another 2,000 refugees living in Peshawar have been shifted to the camps.—APP