US official visits Afghan refugees

Christina Rocca spent only a few minutes at the camp

By Kate Clark in Peshawar

The US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, has visited Jalozai Afghan refugee camps near the city of Peshawar in Pakistan.

The camp is home to tens of thousands of Afghan refugees who fled their country this year.

They are the subject of a dispute between the Pakistani government and the United Nations refugee agency.

Conditions at the camp are shocking to visitors

Pakistan has said it cannot cope with any more refugees and has been refusing to register the newcomers.

Ms Rocca spent only a few minutes in Jalozai camp leaving refugees there wondering why she had come at all.

They said she had barely spoken to any of the refugees and were concerned that she would only hear the Pakistani Government's side of the story.

Misery

Jalozai camp is now part of the standard itinerary for dignitaries visiting Pakistan. It has become a symbol of the hardships facing Afghans.

Pakistan's refusal to register the newcomers has made it difficult for aid agencies to even install adequate sanitation and water supplies.

Most visitors are shocked by the misery of people who have already lost everything to war or drought.

Ms Rocca is also meeting the governor of this province who is likely to put Pakistan's side of the case - that his country can no longer afford to support so many Afghan refugees.

There are at least 1.5 million Afghans living here. Most fled in the early 1980s when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it cannot handle the influx of refugees

Islamabad has complained that aid to Afghan refugees has become a tiny fraction of what it was in the days when Peshawar was the frontline in the cold war against communism.

These were the glory days when the US channelled billions of dollars of aid and military support through Pakistan.

The government here says that Afghanistan, which is mostly controlled by its ally, the Taleban, is now a safe and secure place for Afghans to return to.

Screening

But the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, is unconvinced. Surveys of refugees in Jalozai camp show that 60 to 70% of the residents of the camp fled the war.

Many Afghans, says the UNHCR, genuinely fear persecution and need to stay in Pakistan.

The UN agency reached an agreement in principle with the Pakistan Government to screen people in Jalozai camp to decide who would be at risk if they were deported.

It also agreed to screen any Afghans without papers who are living in Nasir Bagh camp.

It was established near Peshawar 20 years ago but the government intends to evict the inhabitants and redevelop the site.

A UNHCR spokesman said new requests from Pakistan were now being considered. He said Pakistan has asked that everyone in Nasir Bagh, even those with papers, should be screened as well as Afghans living in Shamshatu camp.

UNHCR says it has already established that everyone in Shamshatu is a genuine refugee.