This was out today, in the Australian.

WHILE the Rudd government says it has stopped processing Afghans' asylum claims for six months because the situation in their homeland is improving, a new report paints a far more damning picture.

The report prepared by the Norwegian Refugee Council says the number of internally displaced refugees in Afghanistan has risen to 240,000 and is rising steadily as more flee violence and insecurity.

The council says internal displacement of Afghans is again on the rise as fighting intensifies in many regions. It describes the humanitarian situation as "critical".

Announcing the tough new policy on asylum-seekers last Friday, Immigration Minister Chris Evans, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor spoke of the prospect of Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum-seekers being sent home in safety and with dignity.

As the situations in their home countries were reviewed by the government in the coming months, "The likelihood of people being refused visas and being returned safely to their homelands will increase", Senator Evans said.

But the Norwegian report said an estimated 2412 civilians were killed in the Afghan conflict in 2009, two-thirds of them by insurgents.

It said the worsening security situation was increasingly hindering the return of refugees