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CNN World Report

Pakistan Flooded With Afghan Refugees

Aired April 29, 2001 - 14:12   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.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: The United Nations high commissioner for refugees is trying to cope with the heavy flow of refugees from Afghanistan. Civil war, drought and a failed economy have forced people to flee the country by tens of thousands in search of a better life. Most of the burden is on Pakistan, which already plays host to estimated two million Afghan refugees, but compassion there is wearing thin.

We get more now from United Nations Television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE WHITEHOUSE, UNTV REPORTER (voice-over): U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan recently toured Sham Shatu (ph), a crowded Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan. His visit came amid fears that a million Afghani refugees will face famine this year. He promised to do his best for the 57,000 refugees here, who face shortage of food, water, medicines, schooling and shelter.

Camps in Pakistan are full to overflowing. Pakistan already hosts more than two million Afghan refugees, and can't cope with any more. Conditions in the UNHCR-administered Sham Shatu camp are considered good compared to other camps where no assistance is available.

The World Food Programme faces a big challenge; 115,000 tons of food are needed. That translates to $54 million. But the pledges come in slowly. More than three million Afghans are fed daily by organization; twice as many as last year. Once a family is registered with the village elders in the camp they receive monthly food packages.

Now as the preharvest hungry season, back in drought- and war- stricken Afghanistan people are dying of starvation. Refugees in the camp have to carefully calculate their monthly rations.

BARBAR SAMSOON, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We are distributing a hundred kilos of wheat flour to each family; 12.5 kilo (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and five kilos of edible (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And, actually, at the moment, there are 2820 families which are residing in the camp, and there is still more families awaiting registration.

WHITEHOUSE: There is little green and hardly any water in the camp, a sign of the worst drought in decades. Even a mud house is a luxury and a chicken reminder of better times when they had livestock and houses and a home. Four-month-old Amina is raised in dusty tent by her father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We lived between the front mines. All our fruit and gardens were destroyed. Now we have a tent. It is hot in summer and cold in winter. We get food, but our family is big. We were happier in Afghanistan.

WHITEHOUSE: So far, donor financial pledges for the camps have fallen short of the appeal and people here desperately hope they won't be forgotten. For U.N. Television, this report was prepared by Ingrid Kasper, Ricardo Lobo and Steve Whitehouse for the CNN WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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