President Leonid Kuchma is not excluding the possibility of Ukraine giving humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, yet believes it not expedient. “They can manage without us,” he stated in an October 10 interview for journalists. Simultaneously he stressed that Ukraine “will not stand aside from the fight against terrorism and its consequences. He said that Ukraine must be prepared for a surge of refugees caused by the beginning of bombing Afghanistan. “We must be prepared for this process.” he declared. Answering a journalist’s question, he noted that in fact there is a mass of Afghan refugees at the Uzbekistan border, although their number is not as large as is said. Mr. Kuchma added that “somebody is trying to take advantage of the situation,” reports Interfax Ukraine. The head of state stressed that Ukraine is taking all necessary measures to prevent an increase of illegal migration across Ukraine’s borders. At the same time, the State Committee on State Border Protection believes that the Afghan refugees’ problem should be solved immediately on the national level. The committee’s press service announced on October 10 that currently most of the illegal Afghani immigrants who had been arrested earlier are kept in temporary confinement in Sumy. Although border guards are supposed to deport the arrested illegal immigrants to the adjoining country whence they came, in case there exist clear evidence of this fact, the Russian side insists on them being sent directly to Afghanistan. The issue of where to deport the Afghani refugees must be solved before the main wave arrives, which is expected ten days after the bombardment began, stated the Border Committee’s press service.
