January 4, 2008

 

 

Overview

 

Afghan authorities call on Iran to delay decision on undocumented refugees

Afghan officials are urging neighboring Iran to delay a decision on some 1.5 million undocumented Afghan refugees in Iran. The call comes following a warning by Iranian authorities on Wednesday (January 2) that nearly 1.5 million Afghan refugees in the country without proper documentation could face arrest and detention for up to five years. Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry, said Thursday (January 3) that his country was not formally told about the move and urged Iranian authorities to delay their decision. Speaking at a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Baheen said, "We hope that those decisions are not executed at least during the freezing months of the winter," adding that an Afghan delegation will soon travel to Tehran to discuss the topic and related issues with Iranian officials. Last April, Iran expelled thousands of Afghan refugees from the country that they said were there illegally. Authorities later suspended their crackdown against the undocumented refugees following the Afghan government's statement that it was unable to handle the sudden influx of returnees. Only some 700,000 of over 2 million Afghan refugees in Iran are documented. Iranian officials contend that undocumented individuals are there illegally and not subject to the same treatment afforded to those registered as refugees.

 

At least 28 killed in violence across Afghanistan's troubled south

At least 28 people, including Afghan insurgents, were killed in separate incidents across southern Afghanistan. Seven people, including six Afghan policemen and an Indian engineer, were killed and 12 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan's southwestern Nimroz province on Thursday. According to provincial Governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad, a road construction convoy escorted by police was first struck by a remote-controlled bomb planted on a motorbike as the convoy was traveling on a main road toward the city of Khash Rod, leaving one policeman wounded. As the convoy stopped, a suicide bomber detonated explosives, killing six policemen and an Indian road construction worker. A roadside bomb hit a US-led coalition vehicle on Wednesday, killing a soldier and an Afghan interpreter. Afghan and foreign forces reportedly killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in Musa Qala district in southern Helmand province on Tuesday (January 1). According to the Afghan Defense Ministry, a roadside bomb in Khost province killed two Afghan security guards working for a US military base. Afghan authorities claim to have killed a would-be suicide bomber armed with hand grenades who was trying to enter a police checkpoint in Khost on Tuesday. Elsewhere, five suspected Taliban militants were killed when roadside bombs they were planting exploded prematurely. Taliban militants killed an Afghan soldier and wounded another in an ambush in southern Helmand province. A roadside bomb in southern Kandahar province also killed two border policemen.

 

NATO General warns of another record year of poppy cultivation

General Dan McNeil, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, warned that this year could prove to be another record year for poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Speaking to a press conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul, McNeil said he expected 2008 to be another banner year for opium production in Afghanistan, adding that an estimated 20-30 percent of the money derived from the country’s multi-billion dollar illicit drug economy will continue to fuel the insurgency. He said NATO commanders in Europe had asked him to step up the fight against drugs this year, asserting that he was going to do so. McNeil said NATO will not be directly involved in the eradication of poppies from the fields, but could bear down on drug growers and dealers connected to the insurgency. Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 percent of the world’s opium production, valued at US$4 billion. There has been very little or no progress in stemming the thriving drug trade that, according to most analysts, is funding the increasing insurgency across the country’s troubled south.

Movement

 

2007: UNHCR temporarily suspends the Afghan voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan until March 2008 due to seasonal slowdown. (IRIN, Nov-2). Pakistan has reportedly extended the deadline to close Jalozai camp until March 2008. (IRIN, Sep-4). The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to temporarily suspend closure of Jalozai refugee camp in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31. UNHCR said due to the fast approaching Muslim holy month of Ramadan and winter season, conditions were not conducive for the return of some 100,000 camp residents. UNHCR said any forceful return of these refugees could lead to secondary displacement.

 

Pakistan is to close all Afghan refugee camps by December 2009 and to repatriate all refugees living in the country. UNHCR says it has repatriated over 306,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under its voluntary repatriation campaign. (UNHCR, Aug-10)

 

4.2 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, and 500,000 IDPs returned home since early 2002. Close to 3 million of the refugees returned from Pakistan. 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan, including one million in 74 long-term camps. About 1.5 million Afghans returned from Iran. Taking into account unassisted returns, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Afghans remain in Iran—up to 30,000 are in seven camps.

 

Iran deported some 85,000 unregistered refugees to Afghanistan during April 21 - May 14, 2007. Iranian officials say they plan to initially send back 500,000 of over a million illegal refugees in the country. Earlier this week, Iran said it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government to slow down the pace of expulsions for illegal Afghans living in the country.

 

Some 200,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned to their homes under the UN-assisted voluntary Afghan refugee repatriation program since it resumed on March 1, 2007, following a seasonal winter suspension. Pakistani authorities said voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are without proof of registration (PoR) ended in April, and refugees remaining in the country without PoR are now considered illegal and subject to government action. Repatriation campaign for Afghan refugees with PoR.

 

2006: UNHCR expects to assist 550,000 returnees—400,000 from Pakistan and 150,000 from Iran. However, so far this year only some 60,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Pakistan. Unassisted returns are a factor from Pakistan and have been a major contributor to returns from Iran. The tripartite arrangement among UNHCR-Afghanistan-Pakistan is good through 2006. The UNHCR-Afghanistan-Iran Joint Program has been extended into 2007. Repatriation from Pakistan, halted for the winter, recommenced on March 1. UNHCR assisted nearly 9,000 refugees in returning from Pakistan and over 500 from Iran during March. In April 2006, Pakistan closed two long-term camps in NWFP, and two in Baluchistan Province with 250,000 long-term residents. Refugees in Baluchistan can either return to Afghanistan or relocate to Mohammad Kheil camp near Quetta. Refugees in NWFP are moving to Afghanistan or one of ten camps in NWFP—refugees are pushing for a one-year delay.

 

2005 plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan and 200,000 from Iran, down from an earlier 350,000 estimated from Iran. 453,000 returned from Pakistan. 67,000 from Iran were assisted and over 210,000 returned on their own to Iran for a total of nearly 280,000, and a combined Pakistan and Iran total of 733,000—close to the original projection.

 

2004 plans were for one million to return. Actual returnees were around 850,000, with 385,000 from Pakistan and 460,000 from Iran, including 80,000 spontaneous returns. Pakistan closed camps in South Waziristan and all new camps, with remaining new refugees going to Mohamed Kheil camp in Baluchistan Province.

Emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps. Over a third returned to Kabul, another 10% went to other central provinces, and just over 20% returned to each of the north and east. The Southern region received 6% and the Western region 4%. The 2003 peak months were June and July.

 

In 2002 over 2.3 million Afghan refugees returned with 2 million assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 125,000 from Baluchistan and 1.4 million from the North West Frontier Province. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps. 265,000 refugees were assisted in returning from Iran; and 10,000 refugees from the central Asian republics.

 

 

Afghanistan Relief Efforts: United Nations Coordination Regions

 

 

Central Region

 

 

East Central Region

 

 

Eastern Region

 

 

Northeastern Region