01/03/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09623

AFGHANS RETURNING HOME

More than two decades of war, famine, and repression drove millions of people from their homes in Afghanistan. Now, they are going home. The overthrow of the Taleban regime and the establishment of an interim government in Afghanistan are inducing Afghan refugees and those displaced within the country to undertake the perilous journey to their former homes.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that, in the last two months, some sixty-thousand refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran. Over thirty-thousand internally displaced Afghans went back to Kabul since late November. "They're coming to Kabul because it's safe and more prosperous and because the international security force will be here," said U-N official Daniel Endres.

More than a million Afghans have been displaced internally and another two and a half million have taken refuge in Pakistan and Iran during the past two decades. Relief officials worry that the sheer number of refugees will overwhelm the transportation and humanitarian aid facilities. They warn that Afghanistan is not ready to handle a massive return of refugees at this time.

Many of the roads, bridges, and transportation systems are unusable. Millions of land mines and thousands of unexploded bombs and shells litter the countryside. Local hospitals in the Shomali area alone report five new mine casualties each day, many of them children. Refugees attempting to cross the country on foot are experiencing a severe shortage of food, water, and shelter. Security remains a problem as renegade Taleban fighters, al-Qaida terrorists, and bandits are still active in some areas. The onset of the fierce Afghanistan winter is another serious hazard to returning refugees.

The United States is working closely with Afghanistan's interim government and with U-N and other relief agencies to speed the return of the refugees. This means establishing security, rebuilding transportation systems, and getting relief supplies to the areas most in need. This will take time and effort. But refugees will find the wait is worthwhile. An orderly -- but not hasty -- return to their homes will save lives and spare unnecessary hardship. And it will ease the pressure on a nation struggling to rebuild itself.