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Afghan refugee women in Pakistan: the invisible causalities of the war...

Rizwan Alam

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Mahwash Bhimjee works on policy and campaigns at Gender Action for Peace and Security. Having spent much of her life in Pakistan, she has seen first-hand the dismal situation of Afghan refugee women and recognises the urgent need for change.



When I began to write this piece last week I started off by doing a general search on the Internet for anything I could find on Afghan refugee women. What I found were either articles on how Afghan refugees were soon to be repatriated to Pakistan or ones dating back to the early 2000s on how the livelihoods of Afghan refugee women could be improved by employing them in cottage industries. It seemed to be the case that the data had not just overlooked how the war had affected these women but in fact there was actually very little data on them at all. Given that the NATO troops are to soon withdraw from Afghanistan and vast numbers of refugees are set to return home, a finding such as this seems to be a dangerous one for the fate of Afghan refugee women.

Afghan refugees in Pakistan number about 3 million, making them the largest refugee community in the world. Last year the Pakistani government announced that Afghan refugees would be given six more months, until June 2013, before losing their refugee status and being forced to move back to Afghanistan. For many refugees Afghanistan is less like home and more like a far away land left with little hope and few economic prospects. According to a survey, 80 percent of Afghan refugees in Pakistan have no intention of returning home. Howeve, losing refugee status in Pakistan means that the vast majority of Afghans will become illegal immigrants, deprived of access to employment and basic services. Pakistan is an aid dependent country, hardly able to provide for its own citizens, and thus housing Afghan refugees during the war has also been economically taxing for it.

Life for Afghan refugees has not been easy in Pakistan. The UNHCR has found that less than one quarter of them are employed and almost three quarters of children do not attend school. Women refugees are the worst off as a combined result of their gender and refugee status. Becoming a refugee means losing legal and social status and also the traditional community-based structures, which have often protected women. Due to this, refugee women are vulnerable to trauma, sexual violence, deepening poverty and an increased burden of care work. According to an estimate, one-third of Afghan refugee women are widows, yet little is done to address their special needs. Tribal and political leaders also restrict women's mobility in a new 'alien' land, meaning few women are able to go out in search of employment or better opportunities. Women's voices are missing from policies around the formation and planning of refugee camps despite the fact that women account for seventy-five percent of the refugee population.

Although the reality for Afghan women refugees is unfortunate, there still lies some hope. Many Afghan women have stood up in the form of community leaders and human rights defenders, providing services for refugee women and teaching them about their rights. Fatana Gailani is an example of such a woman. She runs the Afghanistan Women Council that provides medical care, education and employment to Afghan refugee women in Pakistan. As part of this she runs the Ariana School in Peshawar, which provides education to over 2000 Afghan boys and girls and employs 65 Afghan women as teachers. The Afghanistan Women Council also runs a maternal health clinic to serve the needs of Afghan refugee women and children. Given that 3 out of 10 children under the age of five face malnutrition and maternal mortality is extremely high, the need for a service such as this is vital. The organization also runs a monthly journal, which provides information on human rights abuses in Afghanistan and on refugee conditions in camps. It promotes ideas and solutions to problems faced by Afghanistan as proposed by national personalities, academics and intellectuals. Through this journal the organization raises awareness of the plight of women and children in the camp, aims to protect women's rights, and mobilizes women to participate in the peace process.

Although groups such as The Afghanistan Women Council are important, they are not enough. Women refugees have now become the invisible casualties of the current conflict in Afghanistan and this must change. Both the Pakistani government and the Afghan government must pay attention and respond to the specific needs of Afghan refugee women. Civil society organisations too should address their differential needs when creating programmes and providing services. Women refugees should also play a role in international and UN sponsored peace initiatives and in government policies around post-conflict rebuilding. Lasting peace in Afghanistan cannot be achieved if Afghan refugee women continue to be left out of peace-building and reconciliation.


Afghan refugee women in Pakistan: the invisible causalities of the war in Afghanistan - Blog - The F-Word
 
The best Pakistan must do it's best to stabilize Afghanistan as soon as possible and ask the Afghans to move and give some of them working visas. Pakistan cannot afford another crisis.
 
What a stupid article, written by some self procliamed academic expert !

Why can't these idiot writers realize that good / bad are relative terms and thus their definition varies from time, location and cultural norms and value.

How can they write this article if they could compare the state of women in Afghanistan itself ?

Compared to the hell hole that Afghanistan IS, anything else is heaven.
 
How are Afghan Pathans treated in Peshawar? Also how are their job prospects in Peshawar?
 
asking people to leave or forcing everyone to leave is not the answer.
I have said it before, the solution to this problem is that we first deport any criminals. No questions asked. If you committed a crime you have to leave. The remainder have a choice, they can renounce all other citizenship and become Pakistani or they can go back home.
 
asking people to leave or forcing everyone to leave is not the answer.
I have said it before, the solution to this problem is that we first deport any criminals. No questions asked. If you committed a crime you have to leave. The remainder have a choice, they can renounce all other citizenship and become Pakistani or they can go back home.

Pakistanis cant keep breastfeeding them either...

Better deport them back to Afghanistan as they are where Al-Qaeda and Taliban & TTP gets their recruits and attacks Pakistan...
Best to deport or pick the terrorists off one by one
 
better idea would be with the help of afghan refugees and combined us to take back atleast the pashtunistan region from afghanistan and merge it with pakistan.

will provide us much deeper strategic depth and many more benefits
 
Illegals be they bengali,burmese or these pesky afghans should be forced to leave our country they are nothing but a burden on the tax payers money!

Do you know Bengalis are working their arse off day and night they are very hard working people opposite to afghans. Under proper law and amendment with respect these afghans should be deported we are not rich nation to sustain them anymore.
 
Pakistanis cant keep breastfeeding them either...

Better deport them back to Afghanistan as they are where Al-Qaeda and Taliban & TTP gets their recruits and attacks Pakistan...
Best to deport or pick the terrorists off one by one

In an Ideal world Afghanistan would be stable enough and we could simply send everyone back. But that is not the case and like it or not, they are still our brothers. So my plan would allow the good ones, who have contributed to our economy and are not criminals can stay.
And of course if any of them get recruited, then the whole family should be sent back.
 
I don't think Pakistan govt. is breast feeding anyone!
People living in Europe have false image of Pakistan's social system or either some people are paid to spread falsification.
In Pakistan, either you work to earning daily bread and butter, or you are working for foreign agencies, which are many.
There is no social system.
 
better idea would be with the help of afghan refugees and combined us to take back atleast the pashtunistan region from afghanistan and merge it with pakistan.

will provide us much deeper strategic depth and many more benefits

NO
This is a bad idea right now.
Taking in Afghanistan would be like shooting your foot off.
What Pakistan needs to do is help stabilize Afghanistan, once stable, we should invest there and create good bonds so that Afghanistan and Pakistan become like US/Canada.
 
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