Afghan refugees from all over the world return home

Letter to the Editor - Dubbo City News
23 October 2003

Dear Sir/Madam

Bob Young's views (Bob Young argues on behalf of the Afghan refugees, 16 October) are clearly at odds with those of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have returned home since March 2002, including around 150,000 Hazaras.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported in August that refugee returns for the year to Afghanistan had surpassed 400,000. More than a quarter million Afghan refugees had returned from Pakistan, while 143,000 Afghans had left Iran, including some 58,000 spontaneous returnees.

The number of those repatriated until August was second only to the return of 1.8 million refugees who went back to Afghanistan in 2002. Since the organised repatriation began in March 2002, more than 2.32 million have returned home.

More than 10,000 Afghans are returning weekly. The UNHCR said they had also assisted 440 Afghans to go back from 14 other countries, both in the region and as distant as Cambodia and Brazil.

The decision that a person no longer needs Australia's protection is only made after the person concerned is given the opportunity to provide new information in support of their claims.

In addition, and contrary to what Bob Young and others might suggest, DIMIA undertakes comprehensive research in these cases. This includes consulting its Country Information Service which maintains comprehensive information on countries around the world.

This service maintains comprehensive and close contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia's network of overseas posts. It also draws on information from equivalent research agencies in many other countries, in particular Europe and North America.

Furthermore, there is also close consultation with non-government and inter-governmental organisations and individual country experts, as well as extensive and continuous monitoring of media and Internet information sources.

Clearly Afghans from all over the world are being assisted by the UNHCR and others to return home and the Government sees no reason why people no longer in need of Australia's protection should not return to Afghanistan.

Stewart Foster
Director
Public Affairs
DIMIA