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CNN Saturday Morning News
Relief Operation Underway for Afghan Refugees
Aired September 22, 2001 - 07:35 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Afghanistan, where frightened refugees are fleeing what they believe is a pending military strike from the U.S. in retaliation for last week's attacks here in New York. A U.N. high commissioner for refugees says it has started a massive relief operation to accommodate the thousands of fleeing Afghans. The agency has asked governments to keep their borders open to the refugees.
Let's talk about the refugees and the problems they now face here in New York. Nicolas Detorrente, the executive director of Doctors without Borders here in the United States. Nicolas, good morning to you.
NICHOLAS DETORRENTE, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You were in Afghanistan back in August. What was your perception of the situation at that time?
DETORRENTE: Well, the first thing to note is that the Afghan people have been going through rough times. And the situation has sharply deteriorated in recent months, even before these latest developments.
It's really a combination of several things. One, there's ongoing war in the country for several years now. People -- violence has affected people. Some groups have been persecuted. And this has led, also to the collapse of the state in the economy.
And the second thing is that there's been a severe drought over the last three years in Afghanistan, three years of consecutive drought. So people have seen their livelihoods been eroded. They've had to sell off their assets. They're unable to plant. And there's a big food deficit. So these two major factors are creating a big humanitarian crisis, even before these latest developments.
Give us an understanding for the people you had conversations with there. I'm sure there were many, many. Did they support the Taliban? And if so, what did they say about that form of government?
DETORRENTE: I think that some people might support the Taliban because of the fact, the simple fact that before they came to the scene, there was a lot of in-fighting among different Mujadeen groups, the groups of Afghan fighters who had fought against the Soviet Union. And the Taliban did bring, especially in their area of origins, in the southwest part of the country, a measure of stability and order in those parts.
This is, of course, very different in other parts of the country, where they are perceived to be more of an outside force. But it's hard for me to get a real grips on the political situation. I'm more interested in the humanitarian aspects.
HEMMER: Take us back to the refugee situation right now. What are you getting? You had a team in northern Afghanistan still. Many western aid workers are out of that country. What are you hearing from your team there about the refugee crisis that may or may not be right now flowing across borders into possibly Pakistan or Iran?
DETORRENTE: Well, I think it's important to note that people have been fleeing Afghanistan, even before this happened. We've had 400,000 people squeeze their way and find their way through tight borders into Iran in the past six months. About 200,000 into Pakistan as of late 2000, early this year. So a lot of people have been trying to get out because of this -- because of the war that's been going on and the drought.
And so, we're already facing a very difficult situation with refugees in Iran and in Pakistan. Anything that comes now will just be an added burden also on the people of Iran and Pakistan who are also refugees, and making it very difficult for us to provide aid there.
HEMMER: And Nicolas, more on that point, what are you hearing about acceptance or non-acceptance from Iran and from Pakistan for those who are trying to get out?
DETORRENTE: Again, the borders have been tight for some time now. There -- a lot Afghan refugees in these countries. There's a reaction by the host population, by the Iranians and the Pakistanis who say this is a burden on us. And so, they've been already tightening border controls and trying to promote repatriation to Afghanistan, which of course, is very difficult, almost impossible because of the situation there.
So I fear, and this is one of our fears, that this -- if there are more people who come out, this might heighten tensions between the host population and the refugees.
HEMMER: Nicolas Detorrente, thank you. Come back, OK, we'll talk more with Doctors without Borders here in New York City.
DETORRENTE: Thank you.
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