From: Ina Iankulova (iiankulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Apr 16 2003 - 10:28:02 EDT
PASHTUNS FLEEING HARASSMENT, PERSECUTION IN AFGHANISTAN
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) -- mainly ethnic Pashtuns -- continue to flee northern Afghanistan for shelter in the south, according to a statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on 16 April. Pashtuns are facing "harassment and insecurity" from other ethnic groups in the northern provinces of Faryab, Jowzjan, and Badghis, as some people blame the Pashtuns as a whole for the crimes committed by the Taliban regime. Commanders, in many cases, are seizing land from people, especially from Pashtuns, according to UNHCR spokesperson Maki Sinohara. "Objectively, even if the situation might be OK for the people to come back, having the experience of being harassed out of their homes or the experience of fleeing from them, does take some time for the people themselves to be convinced and confident enough to go back," Shinohara said. She warned that unless security is established in Afghanistan, refugee and IDP crises and insecurity will continue. According to the UNHCR
, there are approximately 350,000 IDPs now in Kandahar and Hilmand provinces, about 15 percent of whom are Pashtuns from the north. KM
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