Thousands of other Afghans will not be so lucky. In the last few months about 32,000 Afghans have streamed into Pakistan–but on Nov. 10 Islamabad slammed shut its doors. Security forces have sealed a 1,000-mile-long stretch of border between the two countries. Pakistani government officials say they can no longer handle the “back-breaking economic burden” of what is now believed to be the largest exodus from next door since 1992. That year thousands fled the capital of Kabul after the fall of the communist regime touched off a brutal power struggle between different factions of the Afgan Mujahideen. Pakistan is accusing international-aid groups and Western nations of turning a blind eye to a refugee population that already stands at more than 2.1 million. “The Afghans have been forced to leave. They are in utter desperation,” says Niaz Ahmed, a senior Pakistani aid official. “They have a dire choice–to either die of hunger or migrate to Pakistan.”
Already the border closing is creating a crisis. Thousands of Afghans have gathered outside barbed-wired reinforced fences in the Pakistan town of Torkhum. Angry crowds stormed the border on Nov. 17, trampling an old man and child to death. One woman went into labor just a few meters from the border post. “For God sake, let us in!” Abdul Salim, a bearded middle-aged refugee, cried hoarsely recently as he gripped the hand of his exhausted wife. The Uzbek couple and their children stood in front of the barbed wire fences barring their entry for several days before convincing the guards to let them through.
The problem began last summer, when the ruling Taliban launched a massive offensive against a “northern alliance” of anti-Taliban groups headed by ousted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. The operation aimed to oust the dwindling rebel forces from their last bastion of resistance in the northeastern part of the country. But the real victims have been ethnic Tajik and Uzbek minorities, who fear persecution from the Pushtun-dominated Taliban forces. Rebel leader Ahmed Shah, a former Afghan Defense minister, has accused the Pakistan Army of not only supporting, but also participating in the latest Taliban offensive. The fighting has worsened what was already shaping up to be a brutal winter. Afghanistan is entering its third straight year of drought. According to the World Food Program, Afghanistan faces a shortfall of 2.3 million tons of wheat this year. If something isn’t done, the agency estimates that more than one million Afghans will likely die of starvation and disease this winter Last week the United Nations launched an urgent appeal for $230 million–the third highest aid request for any area of the world. (The list is topped by the Balkans and North Korea.)
So far, the international community has shown little inclination to help either side. The Taliban, which seized Kabul in 1996 and offered safe haven to suspected Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, has become increasingly isolated. Pakistan has become a pariah nation for supporting the Taliban. The United Nations admits that its funding for Afghan refugees has dwindled. The U.N. has called on Afghanistan’s other neighbors, including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, to open their borders. Both of those countries have refused, fearing a spillover of the Afghan war. Experts estimate that as many as 500,000 more Afghans may try to flee in the coming months. Unless sympathetic neighbors crack open their doors, they have no place to go.
