PAKISTAN: U.N. HIGHT COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES RUUD LUBBERS ARRIVES TO REVIEW OPERATIONS AHEAD OF INFLUX OF AFGHANS

Record ID: 275379

  • Title: PAKISTAN: U.N. HIGHT COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES RUUD LUBBERS ARRIVES TO REVIEW OPERATIONS AHEAD OF INFLUX OF AFGHANS
  • Date: 28th October 2001
  • Summary: (U5) QUETTA, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 27, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. MV UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES RUUD LUBBERS WALKING TOWARDS TENTS; REFUGEE LOOKING AT LUBBERS; MV LUBBERS SHAKING HANDS WITH AFGHAN REFUGEES (5 SHOTS) 0.23 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LUBBERS SAYING "My impression is that the new refugees here are hiding away because they have man
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: QUETTA AND CHAMAN, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Reuters ID: LVA28S8CJ4F10YYHPIKNCUZKFZ11
  • Story Text: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud
    Lubbers has arrived in Pakistan to review operations ahead of
    a possible large-scale influx of Afghans.

    The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees, Ruud
    Lubbers, visited on Saturday (October 27, 2001) the Pakistani town
    of Quetta on the border with Afghanistan, to review possible
    operations ahead of an expected influx of refugees.

    The visit, Lubbers' second to the region in six months,
    comes amid reports from Afghan refugees that the Taliban and
    opposition Northern Alliance are trying to force men to fight.

    Thousands of Afghans are massed on the Afghan side of the
    border near the Baluchistan border checkpoint of Chaman,
    hoping that Pakistan will open its frontiers.

    Most have fled 21 days of bombing of Kandahar, the
    stronghold of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, and
    surrounding areas, in the U.S.-led campaign to punish
    Afghanistan's hardline Taliban and their "guest", Saudi-born
    militant Osama bin Laden.

    "We asked the government to be, let's say, more
    forthcoming and to accept people who are really in need,
    beyond women and children, and the elderly and the disabled,
    also families. I feel here with the government there is a
    climate to discuss and basically the arrangement is we will
    allow them to be very strict on keeping out military elements,
    Taliban fighters and so on and then they will allow us to
    look after the people who are in need", Lubbers said as he
    visited food warehouses and spoke with aid workers.

    The Geneva-based UNHCR, which fears up to 1.5 million
    Afghans could flee, has called for surrounding states,
    Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, to
    admit people fleeing starvation and the U.S.-led bombing
    campaign.

    The UNHCR statement said it had repeatedly raised concerns
    with Iranian authorities regarding the safety of displaced
    Afghans and the lack of water in the two camps run by the
    Iranian Red Crescent Society inside Afghanistan.

    The UNHCR said it had received $38 million towards its $50
    million appeal to cover the first phase of its operation to
    care for an exodus of up to 400,000 Afghans.

    The latest contributions include $5 million from the
    Netherlands, where Lubbers served as prime minister.

    Lubbers will leave from Pakistan for a visit to Iran.


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