[refugee-rights] Refugee returns to Afghanistan largest in 30 years

REFUGEE RETURNS TO AFGHANISTAN LARGEST IN 30 YEARS, UN AGENCY SAYS
New York, Sep  3 2002  4:00PM

The more than 1.6 million Afghans who have returned home since March 
constitute the largest single refugee repatriation in 30 years, the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

According to a spokesman for the UN agency, more than 1.63 million people 
have returned to Afghanistan over the past six months. By adding the 
estimates of spontaneous returns since late 2001, more than 1.9 million 
Afghans have repatriated to the war-torn country.

In 1972, more than 9.8 million Bengalis who had earlier fled East Pakistan 
returned to Bangladesh, Ron Redmond told a press briefing in Geneva.

Thousands of Afghan refugees continue to repatriate daily, although the 
pace from Pakistan has been rapidly declining, the spokesman said. "There 
has, however, been an increase in returns from Iran," Mr. Redmond said. 
"Considering the state of Afghanistan's infrastructure and the security 
problems that still affect many areas, this is an astonishing number."

August saw the lowest number of refugees go back under the joint 
UNHCR-Afghan Transitional Authority repatriation operation that began in 
March. Over 196,000 returned home in August - less than half the more than 
412,000 refugees who went back in May when the repatriation reached its peak.

In all, more than 1.44 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan, 
according to Mr. Redmond, while the total number of assisted returns from 
Iran stood at over 180,000 plus an additional 55,000 spontaneous returnees 
since April. Meanwhile, some 10,000 Afghans have gone back from the Central 
Asian states with UNHCR assistance.

UNHCR estimates that 2 million Afghans will return home this year, although 
the number of refugees and other Afghans still outside the country is 
difficult to assess because of the large number of migrant workers in 
countries like Pakistan and Iran, Mr. Redmond said.