PRESS BRIEFING BY THE U.N. OFFICES FOR PAKISTAN AND
AFGHANISTAN ( 07 December 2001)

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s UN briefings in Kabul (excluding questions and answers session).

** Yusuf Hassan, UN Spokesperson

Some few words before introducing our guest speaker. Saturday, that’s tomorrow – the World Food Programme (WFP) - will start distributing food to thousands of needy Afghans in Kabul. In a three-day registration exercise, the UN food agency found over 1.3 million people in need of aid in the capital. It is setting-up 16 distribution points to help feed the people they’ve identified in the city.

They expect the distribution will take 8 days. In the first two days, WFP expects to reach some 400,000 people in district 1-5 of Kabul, with a total of 3,000 metric tonnes of wheat. If you are interested in covering the distribution tomorrow, please see me or
my colleague Wivina.

Our guest speaker this evening is the Assistant High Commissioner of UNHCR, Kamel Morjane. An experienced diplomat and accomplished humanitarian officer, he has served as his (Tunisia)country’s Ambassador and Special Representative to the UN in Geneva and has held senior positions in the UN, as UNHCR’s director for South West Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Until October, when the High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers named him to head UNHCR’s global operations, Kamel was the Secretary General’s Special Representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Without much ado, l welcome Kamel Morjane to speak to you.

**Kamel Morjane, Assistant High Commissioner

The historic Bonn Talks offer the people of Afghanistan, a new opportunity, a fresh start.

The rapidly changing situation provides an opportunity for the return of thousands of Afghan refugees. Following the improved access into some parts of the country, UNHCR, together with other UN agencies, is rapidly expanding its activities in
support of the large population of internally displaced Afghans.

As you probably know, Afghanistan is the world’s largest refugee producing country in the world. Multiple crises, internal strife, drought, hunger and poverty have uprooted millions of people.

Four million Afghans are refugees in neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Iran, thousand others are scattered in 70 countries around the world. UNHCR key objectives to stabilise the population in Afghanistan, continue assisting those who are being forced to flee the country and aid the repatriation of Afghans who want to return home.

UNHCR has begun an assistance programme that would cover up to half a million internally displaced Afghans. In the neighboring countries, it would help up to 380-thousand new refugees. It will at the same time prepare the ground of the return of thousands of
Afghans.

Although it is too early to contemplate large-scale return of Afghan refugees, some return movements have already started in a spontaneous manner from Pakistan and Iran.

Already 24,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the beginning of October. An increasing number of people are also returning from Pakistan. If the security situation improves, significant numbers of Afghans would return home towards the end of the winter season – in March or April.

As l informed the new Minister for the Return of Refugees and Internally Displacement today, UNHCR will play a key role in the repatriation of those returning home as well as assist them in the process of reintegration. Even if only 25% of the current Afghan
refugee population were to return - that would translate into one million – a huge number by any standard.