By: Aasef Chauhdry
It has been more than three decades now that Afghan refugees are not only living in Pakistan but also spoiling the law and order situation of the country. According to a careful survey of 2001, around five million Afghans had crossed into Pakistan since 1979. They had been pouring in, in groups and badges of people not less than strength of 30,000. In the very first wave after Russian invasion of 1979, around one million of Afghan refugees crossed over and soon this number reached three millions in 1980. Had they been simply the refugees, the things would have been different. The camps and sites were marked for them but unfortunately only the poor and shelter less moved there as they had no other choice. While on the other hand the wealthy, powerful and educated who were mostly from Uzbek, Hazara and Turkmen tribes sneaked into the cities where they slowly and discreetly established their business to an extent that the locals were virtually shoved into the backseats. In a short span of time the basic businesses like hotels, transport was monopolized by them. Those who were richer than others started buying the properties too. The middle class of Afghanis bought property in the small towns and cities while the elite class and those who had links with political leaders and the war lords purchased costly houses and land in Islamabad. The sectors F-8 and F-10 are known to be majorly owned by the Afghanis. The irony is that those who have given their life for Pakistan were at their mercy and would beg them to give their houses on rent to the local Pakistanis.
Undoubtedly, all Afghan refugees cannot be declared terrorists, as these are needy and registered displaced people who merely seek shelter in Pakistan, their neighbouring country. Many among them have been living here for many years, have made it their home, set up their businesses and are contributing to the economy of Pakistan positively, however, their number is very less, whereas most of them are playing in the hands of our enemies and they are purposely being sent to Pakistan with suspicious motives. They are, in every 4th case are RAW or Afghan intelligence agency’s agents.
There is a hell of difference between the unregistered Afghan nationals and the Afghan refugees. Unregistered Afghans are those who are living in Pakistan illegally and do not have proper documentation and registration whereas Afghan refugees are those who are having Proof of Registration’ (PoR) cards. Pakistan took over 3.5million Afghan refugees as a goodwill gesture in 1980s. The illegal residents are spread all over Pakistan; from Khyber to Karachi and Quetta to Azad Kashmir, thus causing a great security hazard. They have literally become a security risk for Pakistan as the authorities have no control over them and that’s a matter of great concern for every Pakistani.
Approximately, there are 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees and more than one million unregistered Afghan nationals which is a great number. The need of the time is to push them back to Afghanistan immediately without wasting some time but according to the UNHCR authorities it will certainly take another 10 years to send them back to Afghanistan. Those who are in favour of handling the issue with a steady pace give excuses like; First, the government has not prepared any contingency plan for sending these refugees back to Afghanistan. Secondly, it will further hamper Kabul and Islamabad’s relationships in the prevailing situation. Thirdly, there are some administrative hurdles and lastly, Pakistan cannot take any step on its own because some international stakeholders are also involved in the matter. There is an old saying that for every will there is a way and so is in the case of Afghan refugees. The security threats Pakistan is facing right now demands chalking out of an immediate plan and for that Pakistan need not to bother about hampering of relations with Afghanistan since the latter has never cared for Pakistan’s hospitality and has always sided with our enemies as they are doing right now. The U turns by the Afghan president are not comprehensible.
Another lame excuse that such quarters give is that the Afghan government has also requested Pakistan not to send the refugees at this stage, citing various reasons, especially the issue of unrest in Afghanistan and have requested for an extension of another two to three years. Well, it’s none of Pakistan’s business if Afghanistan doesn’t have peace prevailing in the country. Why should Pakistan pay the price for it? Afghanistan itself is responsible for the unrest as on one hand the country is in no mood to sit on the same table with Taliban while on the other hand, it’s romancing with India, America and Iran and acting as guided by them. Why should Pakistan hatch their problems? The muck belongs to Pakistan and must go back to them. Pakistan did this favour purely on humanitarian ground and in the name of Islamic brotherhood but if Afghanistan doesn’t care about it and have no sense of brotherhood then Pakistan also has no obligation.
In the wake of the prevailing situation, the demand for sending these refugees back to Afghanistan has intensified. It is stated that comparatively security situation in Afghanistan has improved, thus, this is the right time to repatriate both legal and illegal Afghans. It merits mentioning here that a demand to expel Afghan refugees from Pakistan came after the deadly attack on Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault in which over 140 school students and staff were massacred. Pakistan believed the attack was plotted in Afghanistan and was executed with the help of the Afghans living in Pakistan. Moreover, they not only secured Pakistani national identity cards and began businesses but also bought properties and got involved in various heinous crimes, including acts of terrorism and drug smuggling.
Pakistan’s foreign office on Thursday said that some of the Afghan refugee camps in the country had become a serious security risk, as terrorists and militants were hiding there. It has further asserted that unregulated cross border movement of refugees also provides an opportunity to terrorists to move freely between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Govt’s own apprehensions are enough to strengthen its fear. Hence the government should not think of giving any further extension to the Afghan refugees’ stay in Pakistan. It is high time that they are sent back with-out giving any extension or time frame. The Nation gets preference over the refugees and the former wants them to be out of Pakistan immediately as we have suffered heavily in men and material without any thankfulness from the other side. In beginning of this year, the CM, while talking to media persons, rightly said that if Afghans could live in refugee camps in Pakistan, why they couldn’t live in their own country?
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