JP/5/REFUGEES

JP/5/REFUGEES

Yoichi Funabashi
Senior Staff Writer
Asahi Shimbun

Time to extend
helping hand to Afghan people

The first snow of the season fell on Mazar-i-Sharif in
northern Afghanistan on Dec. 3.

The New York Times carried a photo of snow falling on
a cluster of tents at a nearby refugee camp. People
who sought refuge there lost their homes in a fierce
battle between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban
over this area of strategic importance. The photo
showed a man stooping by a small tent as high as his
shoulders. The tent is his home where he spends the
night.

More than 30 years ago, writer Yasushi Inoue wrote
about the intense winter in this area. Inoue's party
left Kunduz, a border town near Amu Darya, and drove
through the rugged open terrain toward Mazar-i-Sharif
at night:

"Flocks of sheep are constantly moving in the dark
beside the road. Sometimes, they are replaced by a
caravan of camels. Flocks of animals seen through the
headlights appear sad. People who walk between them
are sadder.

"Nomads in the northern region started moving south
all at once with the approach of winter. Their
destination, I hear, is Pakistan." - from "Yubokumin" (Nomads).

Still, the nomads were probably better off than the
refugees of the present time, who have nowhere to go.

The Taliban regime collapsed. The war between the
United States and al-Qaida is nearing an end. At last,
the different Afghan groups are set to form a
provisional government under UN pressure.

Countries are sending advance parties to the Afghan
capital of Kabul one after another to reopen their
embassies. A day after the Northern Alliance occupied
Kabul, an Iranian mission arrived at the former
embassy, which was left to ruin, to resume operations.
Russia, India and Turkey followed suit.

In Russia's case, it came back after a blank of more
than 10 years since the Soviets withdrew from
Afghanistan. Now, the complex has turned into a
shelter for thousands of refugees. Later, Britain,
France and Japan dispatched advance parties.
Afghanistan is preparing to open up to international
society once again.

A mountain of problems lies ahead: establishment of
peace and order, humanitarian relief, repatriation of
refugees, establishment of a full-fledged government,
implementation of elections, economic reconstruction,
to name a few.

Rebuilding a failed state will be an expensive
undertaking. Unlike Cambodia, Kosovo and East Timor,
Afghanistan has a huge population of 25 million.
Removal of land mines alone is expected to cost US$500
million (62 billion yen). One estimate shows that the
entire rebuilding of Afghanistan could cost as much as
$25 billion.

But the important thing is not the amount of aid. Even
if the international society could put up such a huge
amount, unless the Afghan government has the ability
to digest and absorb it, the money would only provide
a hotbed of corruption. It would only change the
economic disposition of this country from dependence
on drugs to dependence on foreign aid.

In Kunduz, Inoue wrote: "There are many carpet stores
in this town but they are all deserted. They are
waiting for a single foreign tourist to come in a day.
The whole town is waiting for the game to be caught in
a trap it set to catch." - from "Kunduz-no Machi"
(The Town of Kunduz).

Nation-building is not something the whole town can
accomplish with commercial activities at the local
bazaar. It is a painstaking undertaking that involves
the establishment of a government, development of
education, public health, agriculture and industries,
and security of human rights to build a nation and its
people.

"From the battlefield to the market" was the slogan
for Cambodian reconstruction. However, later, problems
of foreign aid and development which only benefited
urban areas and the market also became clear. Greater
importance must be attached to poor rural communities
to build such infrastructure as roads, schools and
hospitals.

When we think about the seemingly insurmountable
difficulties involved in Afghan nation-building, we
tend to be seized with pessimism. Some Afghan experts
say that Afghanistan would be more stable if it were
to be divided into a number of countries by ethnic
group or region. They say Afghanistan should follow
the example of Bosnia, where the situation has been
brought to a settlement by division among different
ethnic groups.

But in Afghanistan's case, it would only bring back
anarchy and trigger civil war again. The absence of a
core will give rise to vacuum of power and encourage
military intervention by such neighboring countries as
Pakistan and Iran.

For the first time in Afghan modern history, the
country is given the greatest opportunity for
nation-building. It is important that international
society extend a helping hand to the Afghan people to
seize this opportunity.

Where is the man in the photograph today? Where is his
family? I wonder if it is snowing in the refugee camp
in Mazar-i-Sharif today.