& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

AFGHANISTAN : THE NEW DISORDER

Refugees Pick up Pieces of their Shattered Lives

Ayesha Khan writes from Peshawar
Afghanistan was one of the last Cold War tragedies, where superpower rivalry ted to the destruction of a once peaceful Asian country. After 13 years of bitter civil war, the pro-Moscow regime of President Mohammed Najibullah was topped in early May be US-supported Mujahideens. But tribal and ethnic divisions continue to plague the guerrillas. In a country ravaged civil strife, new fighting can only mean further devastation . In two special reports, Gemini News Service analyses the Afghan situation. The second instalment will be published tomorrow.
Since the beginning of Afghanistan's civil war 13 years ago, more than six million people have fled across the border to Pa-kistan and Iran. Now, with the promise of peace in their country, many of these refugees are making their way back home. But they will face daunting problems in rebuilding their lives from the ravages o f war.
EVERY day Binet the overthrow of Mohammed Najlbullahs communist regime In Afghanistan, as many as 400 refugee families have returned from Pakistan.
But repatriation must not proceed too quickly, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who echoes the concern of many of those refugees, because conditions inside Afghanistan are still far from
Pierce Gucretui. the Deputy Chief of the UNHCR mission in Pakistan, said the air wur for rural Afghanistan Is now over There is no longer the fegr of bombing or scud missiles. he said.
However, he cautioned that the countryside has been devastated by the 13-year war fought by guerrillas against the Soviet-backed regime. It will take many years to remove the countless mines from the fields and to reconstruct the Irrigation and agricultural Infrastructure needed to feed the Afghan people.
"Repatriation is a process." Gucretui said. “So far many refugees are only going back to set up their houses and check on their fields so that the rest of the family can back later '
Pakistan and Iran have each welcomed three million Afghans since the war began. In Pakistan, the 345 camps have evolved into refugee villages. Food rations have been provided by the UNHCR and international non-governmen tai organisations have set up health and education facilities in the camps.
Most of the refugees In Pakistan are ethnically Pathan. The prominent resistance leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been based in Peshawar since 1974. His Hizb-i-lslami party has refused to join the interim government on charges that It is not representative of the majority Pat han population, and its Defence Minister Ahmed Shah Massoud, who is a Tadjik, has joined forces with the formerly communist, and un-lslamic.
military.
The mood inside one camp near I'cshawar Is one of depair One woman wept at the though of going home. "Wc have noth Ing to feed our children." she sakl.
This war has taken our homes and the men In our families." added another refugee woman. "We are going to need as much assistance aa possible. Pakistan must help us In whatever way it can."
But there arc signs that Pakistan's ready hospitality lo these refugees may be coming to an end. Residents of ihc congested city of Peshawar blame the refugees for taking land', trees and cattle, as well as monopolizing cheap labour Jobs.
Pakistan has shared Its lim
I ted resources. including hospitals and schools, with the refugees, but villagers com plain that many refugees camps — with their drinking wells and basic health facilities provided by aid groups — are better equipped than ordinary villages In the region.
The government has offered to provide free transport for the refugees to main cities inside Afghanistan. Gulzar Khan, until recently the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees. says : "We are all very optimlslk- that peace will prevail in Afghanistan and the refugees will return with safety and honour to apply themselves fully lo the reconstruction of Afghanistan. We have no
ears and no worries here/
The optimism may be pre-nuturc. Hekmatyar's forces lave already fought battles vlth those of Massoud for :ontrol of Kabul. Although icetlc negotiating by former dujahldccn leaders is taking >lacc, there is no guarantee hat a peace agreement will be cached In the near future. Jnlcss all of Afghanistan's right main ethnic groups arc latlsflcd with their share of lower, the threat of civil war rxlsts.
Ahmed, a young man who amc lo Pakistan more than 10 rear ago. Is firm about his con-lilkins for returning home. Right now the situation In
Jghunlslan Is bud. he says. We will be happy lo go home rhen there Is an Islamic gov rnment In place and the drees of the Gllam Jam militia n Kabul have been removed. '
Ahmed is a follower of ickmatyar. This political affill ■Hon, combined with knowing hat a devastated Afghanistan vill be unllvabkr, Is preventing nany Afghan refugees from re urnlng home.
Although Ihc rale of return su increased. It Is unlikely to [row dramatically until secu-Ity has been restored within Ifghnlstan
If refugees continue to rc-urn at their current rate. It will still take more than four rears for all three million ■efugecs in Pakistan lo be ■eputrtated The government Is
unprepared for the possible Economic and political bur lens this stay would involve
If the threat of civil war remains In Afghanistan, and the rate of refugee repatriation decreases, senior official Gulzar Khan says that the Pakistan government has no contingency plans.
Meanwhile. International aid to the refugees is dwindling Funding by UN member countries to feed the Afghans shrank after the Geneva Accords of 1988 paved the way for a political solution to the Afghan conflict. It was expected that the refugees would return soon after the accords were signed As a result, rations for lea and sugar were stopped.
Today. International funds are needed more than ever, according to UNHCR's Pierce Guerctul. The repatriation project will cost more than one billion dollars. Even If there are enough funds available for this, a much larger commitment is required for the com plementary project of Afghanistan's internal reconstruction
long-term planning will be needed to clear the rural areas of mines and rebuild Irrigation canals. There arc a minimum of health facilities available to the Afghan people and so a great need for medical personnel and equipment to be sent. International aid organisation are hesitant to launch expensive projects inside Afghnlstan until the threat of further fighting Is over.
Future planning, for both aki donors and the refugees, is not possible at this stage. Those refugees returning do so with trepidation Those remaining In Pakistan do so aware that their welcome and sources of economic support may be running out.
AYESHA KHAN Is a free lance Journalist based in Islamabad. where she writes on social issues.