COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

Pakistan gives green light to refugee camps

Members of the Taliban have been coming into the Killi Faizo camp at night and harrassing the refugees, says the UNHCR.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The tide has turned for some of the most desperate Afghan refugees languishing in dustbowl transit camps or even worse waiting in the icy desert inside the Pakistani border.

Pakistani authorities have given the green light to the setting up of more permanent sites away from the border following pleas from the United Nations.

As the chill of winter descends, the news that they are to be moved away from areas where armed fighters and recruiters wage influence on the displaced will be welcomed by the refugees.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will now begin the mammoth task of transporting Afghans from two sites: Killi Faizo just 600 meters from the Afghan border near Quetta and the controversial Jalozai camp near Peshawar.

Buses and trucks will initially move nearly 3,000 Afghans in family groups to the new sites starting this weekend.

UNHCR will provide transport and the government of Pakistan is expected to provide security for the convoys, but the refugees may not be beyond the influence of the ruling Taliban militia.

Pakistani authorities told Reuters that they suspect the Taliban has infiltrated some refugee camps in Pakistan to ensure their fleeing countrymen hold their tongues.

Basic but secure

This man is one of the lucky ones at Killi Faizo camp with UN shelter, many languish in the icy desert outside the camp.

The decision to move the Afghans follows a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan's minister responsible for refugee affairs, Abbas Sarfraz Khan, and UNHCR, the World Food Program and senior government officials, the U.N says in a statement.

The U.N. refugee body says the eleven new sites have a maximum capacity for some 70,000 refugees and more are in the planning stage.

The most crucial camps are the three in Baluchistan Province in the vicinity of the main Chaman border area, this is a popular point for crossings by Afghans fleeing the bombing in Kandahar and southern areas of the country.

Killi Faizo was initially set up by the UNHCR in anticipation of a flood of refugees in the wake of the September 11 attacks, whereas Jalozai camp, although opened before has been accused of having "highly unsatisfactory living conditions."

The invisible 135,000

The U.N. says there are some 135,000 so-called "invisible" refugees that have entered Pakistan since the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Many of them have been living an uncertain existence either in old refugee camps in Pakistan or in cities such as Peshawar and Quetta.

A boost to the relief effort has also come in the form of tax concessions on relief supplies.

Pakistan will no longer charge the 15 percent sales tax on local goods destined for Afghan refugees in an effort to spur purchases by the United Nations and other aid agencies.