One too many asylum seekers

By Nick Easen
CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The plight of a batch of mainly Afghan refugees aboard a Norwegian freighter should come as no surprise.

However, the case of the Tampa is dwarfed in scale by the millions who have fled Afghanistan's conflicts and chaos in recent years.

After decades of war, a devastating drought and harsh rule under the Taliban, Afghanistan is a country many consider worth fleeing from.

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Australia is only one destination of choice among at least 68 different countries whom Afghans have recently applied to for refugee status.

As Australia considers the fate of the 434 mainly Afghan asylum seekers, Iran and Pakistan are quietly shouldering millions of refugees.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard told CNN: "I wish the problem wasn't ours," highlighting an issue being hotly debated by the international community -- the question of who is exactly responsible for those that flee their homelands.

Fifty years have passed since the UN Refugee Convention was first mapped out, yet the world has yet to come up with measures that effectively deal with those who have reason to leave their country by land or sea.

A repeat case of escape

18 month ago Britain faced a dilemma between its obligation to provide genuine asylum and its duty to deter hijacking.

The last Afghan asylum episode that highlighted similar issues was 18 months ago when an Afghan passenger plane was forced to land in the British Isles. The government was faced with a request for asylum. A number of the 160 still remain in the UK.

Afghans at home envied their countryman's good fortune at being hijacked. And those who returned to Afghanistan were given a hero's welcome.

It remains to be seen whether the plight of the Christmas Island asylum seekers will be met with the same jubilation on their potential return.

The tone of the Australians is similar to that of many Western countries -- if you make it easy for asylum seekers, many more will try to enter.

Recently the British Government has decided to maintain the system that denies cash benefits to asylum-seekers, granting them vouchers instead, a move seen by the authorities as a way of deterring future migrants.

However, the tide of fleeing Afghans is likely to continue as long as crippling United Nations sanctions are still in place, say the ruling Taliban militia who control the majority of war weary Afghanistan.

With the largest number of refugees in the world, the problem of Afghanistan's 3.6 million asylum seekers is not one that the international community can turn its back on.

Reuters contributed to this report.