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American Morning
United Nations Refugee Agency Fear Hundreds of Refugees Being Affected Adversely
Aired October 29, 2001 - 09:53 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As airstrikes continue, aid workers face big troubles. U.S. jets dropped more bombs on the Taliban targets at the frontlines north of Kabul, where opposition Northern Alliance forces are battling Taliban fighters. But officials at the United Nations Refugee Agency fear hundreds of refugees are being affected adversely.
CNN's Carol Lin is at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Chaman border, under the menacing eye of the Taliban, Afghan refugees meet at the tension-filled crossroads of hope and despair, despair for those who do not have visas to Pakistan, hope for those who do. They crossed into Pakistan Sunday with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
"We came here to get shelter," Mir Wayess told us. He says he doesn't have a penny to buy food. He is one of 150,000 refugees the UNHCR now predicts could cross into Southwest Pakistan, but even if they arrive, they may not get the shelter they seek. This is the only refugee camp they've been able to get approved at this busy border crossing, and it is temporary at best -- primitive latrines, simple tents.
In a month, when winter hits, aid workers want to move the refugees to a more permanent site.
(on camera): The problem is it is 40 minutes up this winding, bumpy road to a site that has no water, no facilities. Nothing is set up.
(voice-over): This desolate plain is one of a handful of places Pakistan's government has only just approved for new refugees. Pakistan has been reluctant to expand existing camps or build new ones, because it already cares for two million Afghan refugees and says it cannot handle more.
Even as aid workers keep negotiating with Pakistan, they stockpile tents and supplies for the flood refugees they still expect. But they may not be able to help the vast majority of undocumented refugees, an estimated 50,000 in Quetta alone. Some would rather take their chances on the streets. Some seek day labor. Others beg. But here, they say they feel safe. These Shia refugees, ethnic minorities in Afghanistan, tell us they won't live in a camp with their historic enemy, the Pashtuns. That new twist has put the UNHCr's commissioner in a tough position.
LIN : I don't think this solution is to start a store of ethnic cleansing, having different camps for different sorts of people. It must be possible that people live in the same refugee camp together.
This desolate plain is one of a handful of places Pakistan's government has only just approved for new refugees. Pakistan has been reluctant to expand existing camps or build new ones because it already cares for two million Afghan refugees and says it cannot handle more. Even as aid workers keep negotiating with Pakistan, they stockpile tents and supplies for the flood refugees they still expect.
But they may not be able to help the vast majority of undocumented refugees, an estimated 50,000 in Quetta alone. Some would rather take their chances on the streets. Some seek day labor. Others beg. But here, they say they feel safe. These Shia refugees, ethnic minorities in Afghanistan, tell us they won't live in a camp with their historic enemy, the Pashtuns. That new twist has put the UNHCR's commissioner in a tough position.
RUUD LUBBERS, HIGH COMMISSIONER, UNHCR: I don't think the solution is to start a store of ethnic cleansing, having different camps for different sorts of people. It must be possible that people live in the same refugee camp together.
LIN: So Ruud Lubbers toured parts of Quetta's refugee community to get the word out: Come to the refugee camps, the UNHCR will guarantee your safety. But first, he has to convince Pakistan's government to not deport the Afghans who come forward, and also to allow aid workers to finish building the camps.
If he does not succeed, it could be a crisis the United Nations did not predict: how to explain why $50 million in international aid did not help the people who need help the most.
Carol Lin, CNN, Quetta, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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