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Afghans returning to their homeland from Iran
A convoy of 146 Afghans -- the first of the 400,000 due to return home from Iran this year -- crossed the border at Dogharoun in northwestern Iran under the supervision of the United Nations.
The 32 families being repatriated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were almost all residents of the western Afghan province of Herat, and lived as refugees in the northern Iranian province of Mashad.
Most of the refugees said they were happy to be returning to Afghanistan following the fall of the hardline Taliban regime, which was routed in a US-led military campaign late last year.
However, many also expressed concern at the still unstable economic and social situation in their homeland, which is trying to recover from years of battles and bloodshed.
Iran, Afghanistan and the UNHCR signed an agreement in Geneva last Wednesday setting out the terms for the voluntary repatriation of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees.
10/04/2002 15:12:00 | ABC Radio Australia News
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