Why Afghans seek hope abroad

Years of war have caused massive upheavals

Most of the refugees who spent eight days stranded aboard the Norwegian cargo vessel Tampa are Afghan.

Although the events surrounding this case are unique, hundreds of thousands of people have left Afghanistan, seeking refuge in 68 countries.

Many have tried to flee the devastation at home

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says Afghanistan has the world's largest case load, with about 6.2 million people classified as refugees.

Over 3.5 million live in camps in Iran and Pakistan, where the Tampa refugees came from. But tens of thousands try to find asylum further afield.

Many refugees speak of fearing for their lives when Afghanistan's Taleban government swept aside the regime of former president Najibullah nine years ago, and imposed strict Islamic laws.

Now, compounded by one of the most serious droughts for decades, the push to leave Afghanistan is relentless.

Targeted repatriation

Four years ago, the UN began a new strategy - targeted repatriation aimed at helping those in the Pakistani refugee camps wanting to return home to relatively peaceful areas.

Afghan refugees dream of a better future for their children

As part of the scheme, groups of refugees from the same area or district are given specific aid or assistance - for example transportation or grants of cash and wheat - to allow them to go back.

However the UNHCR judges a tiny number of Afghans can never go back and are eligible for resettlement overseas.

They are deemed in extreme danger, and are organised enough to have meticulous evidence of persecution to give to staff in Pakistan and Iran.

Their cases are passed on to a number of western countries, who grant them the right to migrate legally.

Desperation

Twenty-one Afghans went to Australia by this route last year - but 3,500 arrived in total, mainly as illegal migrants.

Afghans: The world's biggest group of displaced people

That journey, says BBC Afghanistan correspondent Kate Clark, is only made by the truly desperate.

When Afghans pay thousands of dollars to get themselves smuggled to what they hope is a better life, they put themselves in the hands of criminals who pass them from gang to gang as they cross national borders.

The route to Australia is usually via Indonesia. After flying to Jakarta, people transfer to other islands, then take to boats for the last stage of their journey.

Many Afghans disappear en route to their intended destination.

That would probably have been the fate of those who were stranded in the Indian Ocean had they not been rescued by a Norwegian cargo ship from their sinking ferry.

The number of Afghans who do not make it is unknown, but many survivors speak with horror of their journeys to a place of refuge.

Once they manage to enter a country, few Afghans get turned away. They manage to convince immigration authorities that they have a genuine fear of persecution.