“In spite of the precarious situations of security and the logistic problems, humanitarian relief to the refugees in the Pakistan border areas is continuing. Although the frontiers with Afghanistan officially remain closed, several hundred refugees continue to arrive in Pakistan each day”. These are the most recent updates from Islamabad, issued by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which is heavily involved in Pakistan in the reception and assistance of Afghan refugees. The UNHCR has so far set up campsites with 15,000 tents in the city of Peshawar, able to accommodate at least 80,000 persons. Apart from water, tents represent one of the most vital basic necessities. Other types of aid – including blankets, mattresses, cooking stoves, kitchen equipment and plastic sheeting – are arriving in Pakistan by airlift. While every effort is being made to provide as much aid as possible in Pakistan and Iran, aid workers fear that a rapid and massive exodus from Afghanistan might overwhelm these countries’ capacity to absorb the influx. “Several hundred refugees notes UNHCR are continuing to arrive in Pakistan every day, managing to cross over the frontier through small mountain roads. UNCHR observers do not however have any reports of large concentrations of people within Afghan territory. And this leads to the assumption that the Taleban have increased their armed presence in the frontier region, to prevent civilians from leaving the country. UNHCR has asked the bordering countries to leave open their frontiers and, in the event of mass exodus, to provide for their temporary protection”. The UN High Commission for Refugees has so far received over 26 million dollars for Afghan aid, donated by various governments. The bulk of this figure has already been spent on emergency relief. Pledges of donations for a further 10 million dollars have also been received, while Japan, Great Britain and Chine have donated supplies worth 2.2 million dollars. UNHCR is requesting the immediate contribution of 30 million dollars to cope with the possible influx of the first 400,000 refugees into Pakistan and Iran. UNHCR’s longer-term emergency plans have estimated that to cope with the worst possible scenario – according to which the UN agency would have to provide relief to almost 2 million people in Afghanistan and bordering countries – 268 million dollars would be needed.
