Afghan Daily Says Government Should Not Deceive Refugees into Early Return
Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 12:00 CDT
Text of editorial by Afghan newspaper Cheragh on 29 August entitled "Do not sacrifice refugees for your policies"
Calling on the Afghan government to prevent Afghan refugees returning to the country may be unexpected, but the government has failed to provide assistance to the refugees who have returned from other countries. Housing, employment and education are the main problems facing the Afghan people. It is wrong to force refugees to return because security has been restored. This will destroy their lives.
It is purely political propaganda when the Afghan government and its international friends say that the return of 3m refugees to Afghanistan shows that security has been restored in the country. As a matter of fact, we can see many of these refugees going back to Iran and Pakistan. The long queues outside the embassies of those countries can be cited as proof of this. The government has kept silent and has not provided statistics on this.
Unemployment is the main factor that encourages people to emigrate again. It is not only refugees who are deprived of the basics in life. However, the government should not mislead refugees and destroy their lives by showing them that security has been restored in Afghanistan. By doing so, they are deceiving them.
They have been saying for three years that land will be distributed to refugees in different provinces. Only a small number of them have received land in places where there are no facilities. Some of them are not even able to construct their own dwellings.
Adopting realistic policies, the Afghan government should persuade host countries not to expel refugees until everything has been prepared for their return. Most of these refugees want to settle in cities. This may create big problems for them.
Before refugees return, the government should take into consideration the situation inside Afghanistan. The returnees usually go back or cannot use their expertise in Afghanistan.
Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia
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