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CNN Live At Daybreak

Target: Terrorism: Refugee Crises in Afghanistan Also Refugee Crisis in Neighboring Pakistan

Aired October 04, 2001 - 08:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The refugee crises in Afghanistan is also a refugee crisis in neighboring Pakistan. That is the destination for most of those trying to get out of Afghanistan before an anticipated military strike.

CNN's Mike Chinoy is in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): One Pakistani aid official told me that this area was as close to ideal as it was possible to find as a place to house refugees given the current circumstances, but if you look around here, this place looks like it's anything but ideal, a desolate wasteland of rocky terrain, with virtually no vegetation, no rivers or streams, surrounded by rugged hills and mountains as far as the eye can sea. It's an isolated area. There is only one road into it, a tortuous, narrow road that winds up from the Khyber Pass. It's just a few kilometers from the border with Afghanistan, though. And aide officials say that given the circumstances, this is all they have to work with, and so plans are underway to turn this area into a camp that will house between 10,000 and 15, 000 refugees.

In the next few days, earth movers will come in here and begin to level this land. Tents, and food and medical supplies will be trucked in, and it's expected within a matter of weeks, that large numbers of Afghans will begin to come here. This is only one of what are expected to be up to a hundred refugee camps just in this one province of Pakistan, the northeast frontier province. Between one and one and a half million Afghans are expected to cross over this wild border should the situation inside of Afghanistan deteriorate.

The aide agencies wanted these new camps located much closer to populated areas, because there is more infrastructure there. The Pakistani authorities, however, do not want anymore refugees near populated areas, and they have insisted that any new camps be built as close to the border as possible. The result is places like this, desolate wasteland now, within a short time, likely to be a home for thousands of people.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Shoman (ph), Pakistan.

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