Pakistan Defence
Pakistan weary of Afghan refugees
Pakistan is growing increasingly impatient as host of the worlds largest refugee community millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet invasion and, later, Taliban rule. At the end of the year, Afghans in Pakistan will lose legal status as refugees, making them vulnerable to deportation. Afghan refugees say they feel caught in the gears of conflicting agendas in their homeland and adopted land. Afghan leaders insist that a shattered economy and the 10-year war against Taliban insurgents make it impossible to begin accepting returning refugees en masse. Pakistani officials say they dont have plans to immediately begin repatriating Afghans, but they also dont plan to continue hosting an estimated 3.5 million Afghans in a country struggling to meet the basic needs of its own people.
We know what the situation in Afghanistan is, but thats the failure of the Afghan government and the international forces there, said Engineer Shaukatullah, Pakistans minister of states and frontier regions, who oversees Afghan refugees in Pakistan. In 10 years, they havent been able to provide refugees a secure place to live. That means the whole burden is on Pakistan. There are 1.68 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, according to the UN refugee agency. An additional 1.8 million are unregistered and living in the country illegally, Pakistani officials say. Registered refugees are issued special identity cards that allow them to stay in Pakistan. Those cards expire December 31.
Pakistan has yet to announce what action it will take. Officials in Kabul say large-scale deportations by Pakistan could destabilize Afghanistan at a time when the country is particularly vulnerable. Afghan President Hamid Karzais government is struggling to accept more of the burden of securing the country before Washingtons planned withdrawal of troops by the end of 2014. UN refugee agency officials have been trying to persuade the Pakistani government to extend refugee status for Afghans in the country. But Islamabad isnt ruling anything out. They are looking at all the options, including forcing refugees back. That would have huge consequences, said Neill Wright, the chief representative in Pakistan for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Nevertheless, the presence of Afghan refugees remains deeply unpopular in Pakistan, a sentiment Pakistani leaders are likely to weigh ahead of what are expected to be hotly contested national elections early next year. Many Pakistanis contend Afghan refugees are a source of rising crime and key players in attacks that continue to beset the country.
They are involved in it, Shaukatullah said when asked about links between Afghan refugees and terrorism in Pakistan. They have connections with these things. So far this year, nearly 42,000 Afghan refugees have returned home. Shaukatullah says thats not enough, adding that the return rate is negated by the number of children born to Afghan refugees each year, which he said is about 83,000. Children born to Afghan refugees in Pakistan do not get Pakistani citizenship; many refugees who are in their teens or younger have never set foot in Afghanistan.
Sangar is one of them. The 19-year-old, who, like many Afghans, uses just one name, was born in Pakistan and grew up in the refugee colony in Khazana after his family fled Afghanistan more than 30 years ago. He runs his tailoring business from a tiny, darkened stall no bigger than a garden shed. Even if they bulldoze our houses, we wont go, Sangar said, shooing away flies with a fan. If Im forced to go to Afghanistan, I dont know what I would do there. I was born here, grew up here and studied here. Pakistan is my country. Courtesy: Los Angeles Times
Pakistan is growing increasingly impatient as host of the worlds largest refugee community millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet invasion and, later, Taliban rule. At the end of the year, Afghans in Pakistan will lose legal status as refugees, making them vulnerable to deportation. Afghan refugees say they feel caught in the gears of conflicting agendas in their homeland and adopted land. Afghan leaders insist that a shattered economy and the 10-year war against Taliban insurgents make it impossible to begin accepting returning refugees en masse. Pakistani officials say they dont have plans to immediately begin repatriating Afghans, but they also dont plan to continue hosting an estimated 3.5 million Afghans in a country struggling to meet the basic needs of its own people.
We know what the situation in Afghanistan is, but thats the failure of the Afghan government and the international forces there, said Engineer Shaukatullah, Pakistans minister of states and frontier regions, who oversees Afghan refugees in Pakistan. In 10 years, they havent been able to provide refugees a secure place to live. That means the whole burden is on Pakistan. There are 1.68 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, according to the UN refugee agency. An additional 1.8 million are unregistered and living in the country illegally, Pakistani officials say. Registered refugees are issued special identity cards that allow them to stay in Pakistan. Those cards expire December 31.
Pakistan has yet to announce what action it will take. Officials in Kabul say large-scale deportations by Pakistan could destabilize Afghanistan at a time when the country is particularly vulnerable. Afghan President Hamid Karzais government is struggling to accept more of the burden of securing the country before Washingtons planned withdrawal of troops by the end of 2014. UN refugee agency officials have been trying to persuade the Pakistani government to extend refugee status for Afghans in the country. But Islamabad isnt ruling anything out. They are looking at all the options, including forcing refugees back. That would have huge consequences, said Neill Wright, the chief representative in Pakistan for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Nevertheless, the presence of Afghan refugees remains deeply unpopular in Pakistan, a sentiment Pakistani leaders are likely to weigh ahead of what are expected to be hotly contested national elections early next year. Many Pakistanis contend Afghan refugees are a source of rising crime and key players in attacks that continue to beset the country.
They are involved in it, Shaukatullah said when asked about links between Afghan refugees and terrorism in Pakistan. They have connections with these things. So far this year, nearly 42,000 Afghan refugees have returned home. Shaukatullah says thats not enough, adding that the return rate is negated by the number of children born to Afghan refugees each year, which he said is about 83,000. Children born to Afghan refugees in Pakistan do not get Pakistani citizenship; many refugees who are in their teens or younger have never set foot in Afghanistan.
Sangar is one of them. The 19-year-old, who, like many Afghans, uses just one name, was born in Pakistan and grew up in the refugee colony in Khazana after his family fled Afghanistan more than 30 years ago. He runs his tailoring business from a tiny, darkened stall no bigger than a garden shed. Even if they bulldoze our houses, we wont go, Sangar said, shooing away flies with a fan. If Im forced to go to Afghanistan, I dont know what I would do there. I was born here, grew up here and studied here. Pakistan is my country. Courtesy: Los Angeles Times