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Refugees ask to go back to Afghanistan

War on Terrorism: Refugees

Ian Burrell,Home Affairs Correspondent
Friday 23 November 2001 01:00 GMT
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Afghan refugees in Britain are asking to return home now that the Taliban has a weakening hold on power, according to the Afghanistan embassy in London.

Embassy officials said the shift in opinion had come after they talked to community leaders to try to find medical staff, engineers and other professionals who would be willing to fly to Afghanistan.

For several days, the embassy has been drawing up lists of skilled and professional Afghans who are willing to help with the country's rebuilding programme.

An embassy spokesman said volunteers could be flown out as soon as flights to Afghanistan were resumed. Those agreeing to go might not have to pay an air fare.

The plans were criticised by some Afghan refugee groups for putting people's lives at risk by transporting them to the still potentially volatile environment of Kabul but the embassy rejected the suggestion.

Inquiries to the embassy have increased rapidly since the fall of Kabul.

Aziz Marous, a journalist, told BBC Radio 4: "I want to go to fight, not only to live a peaceful life there. I'm a journalist, I will fight with my pen."

Abdullah Haris, 38, a media student in London, told The Independent yesterday that there were mixed feelings across Afghan communities about the prospects for return.

Mr Haris, a Tajik who has lived in Britain for more than seven years, said: "I would love to go back. I have told my children that we are here temporarily and that we will go back. My wife is ready to go back and I've talked to my friends and they all want to go back as well." But he said he did not think it was practical to return to Afghanistan in the immediate months.

Mr Haris pointed out that Pashtun Afghan exiles, who came mostly from the Taliban-controlled south of the country where more fighting was expected, faced a more uncertain future. He said: "It's difficult for those in the south to go back home. They will be thinking that the situation will be getting worse for them."

Nick Hardwick, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the authorities had to ensure nobody was pressed into returning home too soon.

He said: "Forcing people back now would be grossly inappropriate. There is a massive job to do in terms of creating a political settlement and simply getting food to people, as well as making sure they have shelter during winter."

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