| Since the "terrorist attacks" of September 11,
the Japanese government has been preparing to participate in the United
States"war of retaliation."
In the midst of this, "assistance for refugees" has become a major issue, and the existence of Afghanistan refugees has become a focus of both government policy and the media. However, it is impossible to get a concrete image of these "Afghan refugees" though governmental policies or media reports. This is only natural, as this "support" is merely being used as a mask of "humanitarian assistance" to justify the overseas dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces, which is what the government really wants. Even the use of the term "Afghan refugees" hides the fact there are in reality a complex variety of backgrounds. In order to get a concrete Image of Afghan refugees, we must make the effort to look at this history and background. The Soviet Invasion and the Civil War After the monarchy was overthrown by a coup d'etat in 1973, a pro-Soviet socialist regime took power, but it was never very stable. In 1979, the Russian army invaded Afghanistan using the pretext of helping to prop up a friendly government. It took control of Kabul, and established a puppet government under Babrak Karmal. Islamic fundamentalists formed a variety of groups to fight against the Soviet Union. They founded the mujahedin, and with massive support from the United States and Pakistan, began a war that has continued for two decades. The Soviet Union continued the war, suffering
great losses, but withdrew in the midst of the Perestroika policy, and
the post-Karmal leadership, u
Regardless of their ethnic group, many Afghan people lost the basis of their livelihood during the war against the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war. They became refugees, and flowed out into Pakistan and Iran. Some 200,000-250,000 people entered Pakistan, and 150,000-200,000 into Iran, turning these two countries into some of the largest host countries of refugees in the world. Massacres by the Taliban Regime After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union, Pakistan supported the Islam Party under Hekutamial, one of the forces made up of Pashtun people, the majority group in Afghanistan, but this group was unable to unite the Pashtun. The south of the country was divided under the control of different warlords. In the 1980s, the military governments in Pakistan under Zia ul-Hak, under the initiative of the ISI, began to organize the Muslim schools (talibs) which were on the border between the two countries. Taliban was founded through this, as a movement centered around the majority Pashtun It received powerful assistance from the Pakistani army, and received the support of many Pashtun people, who had gotten tired of the prolonged Russian invasion and the lawless control of warlords. The Taliban came to control most part of the country, and by 1996 had taken Kabul. However, they acted cruelly towards ethnic minorities as well as toward women and homosexuals. They forced the manners and customs of rural Pashtun people on city people and the northern minority races. All women were forced to stop working and to stay in their homes. Homosexuals were executed in a cruel manner: they were made to stand in front of stone walls, which were then knocked over by tanks; the tanks then drove over them to make sure they were dead. Furthermore, in dealing with minority groups, and in particular those such as the Hazara which were Shiite Muslims, a slogan was adopted that "Only the Pashtun are true Afghanis." Under this slogan, a policy of massacre that essentially amounted to genocide was adopted. In 1998, as many as 6,000 Hazara people were slaughtered after northern city of Mazare-Sharif fell to the Taliban. Some 1,000 Hazara were slaughtered when the Yakavlan valley, which was close to Bamiyan, with its Buddhism remains, fell into the hands of Taliban in January 2001. The Hazara people who survived were forced to escape to Pakistan and Iran, and some later went to the West and to Australia or Japan, where they filed applications for refugee status. At present, most of the Afghanis in places such as Tokyo and Osaka, who are filling out applications for refugee status, are Hazara people who face massacre back home at the hands of the Taliban. Drought, the Civil War and the War of Retaliation by the United States For the past one or two years, Afghanistan has experienced what may be the worst drought in its history. The United Nations estimates that between 2000 and March 2001, there were some 600,000 who were either internal or external refugees, who had lost their livelihoods due to the civil war. Moreover, since the terrorist attacks on September 11 and the subsequent U.S. war of retaliation, still more people, of different ethnic groups, have lost their livelihoods and moved to Pakistan as refugees. However, Pakistan and Iran have closed their borders, saying they do not have the capacity to accept more refugees. As a result, it has become difficult with people without visas to escape from the country. If the military operations of the United States intensify, disruptions to electricity and other lifelines will put pressure on even more people, who will be forced to become either internal or external refugees. Thus, Afghan refugees come from a variety of historical and ethnic backgrounds, and were forced to become refugees for a variety of reasons. Even among those who became refugees due to persecution by the Taliban, each individual carries a unique burden. It is not possible to provide "support for refugees" without working continuously, based on an accumulation of information on these different backgrounds. Therefore, there is a tremendous role to be played by NGOs and NPOs, which have maintained continuous relations with communities. The government's method, of merely throwing money and goods at the problem, may not only be ineffective but may actually cause harm to the region. |