Pakistan: For Afghan refugees, lack of policy is reason not to return

The Express Tribune

Afghanistan may be inches away from its first-ever democratic transition of power, but the refugees living across its eastern border are as far from home as they were when they first set foot on Pakistani soil.

United Supreme Council of Afghan Refugees Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) President Haji Rehmatullah Momand migrated to Pakistan in the 1980s when he was barely 10 years old. Hailing from Chaparral district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, Rehmatullah started living in one of the refugee camps in Mattani with his siblings, who now have families of their own. With time, their tents have been replaced with shanty mud brick houses which have turned into permanent settlements. The sense of permanence stems from several factors. “The most important thing is Kabul’s lack of policy to solve the refugee problem in addition to lawlessness and a lack of job opportunities,” explained Rehmatullah, who represents the Afghans living in the vicinity. He claimed the Karzai government had promised to provide them with houses in Jalalabad several times but even a blueprint for the project could not be approved in the last 11 years.

“Our father had a small house of seven marlas,” Rehmatullah said of his family’s modest abode in Chaparral. “I have seven brothers and sisters who now have their own families so that mud house is no longer big enough for us,” he said.

A resident of the Badhaber refugee camp, Ashraf Khan, echoed similar sentiments. “I have bought a taxi and am very happy with my life in Pakistan. I do not see any future in Logar, Afghanistan.”

Jostling for space

According to UNHCR estimates, there are 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, though the actual figure of refugees may be much higher. Around 37% of them are residing in refugee camps while 63% have found a place in rural and urban settlements.

UNHCR data maintains there are 65 refugee camps housing 0.47 million people in K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The Afghan government’s refugee office in Peshawar, however, maintains there are 42 camps in K-P while the Directorate of Afghan Refugees places the total number of camps at 28.

“We are short of staff so we have divided these camps into 28 administrative zones; so for us, there are 28 camps,” shared an official of the directorate. He said they wanted the refugees to be repatriated but the Pakistani government was under immense pressure from the United Nations, making any attempt to evict them by force impossible.

The burden of accommodating so many refugees means more competition. “They (the refugees) are creating law and order problems, competing with locals for already dwindling job opportunities,” said the official.

The long road home

A staggering 62% of Afghans are living in K-P and Fata, 20% in Balochistan, 11% in Punjab, 4% in Sindh, 2% in Islamabad and 1% in Azad Kashmir, according to the UNHCR.

A UNHCR official said 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their homeland from 2002 to date with the help of the refugee commission. “The situation in Afghanistan is not conducive for a large-scale return of refugees as the country is passing through a transition like the elections and withdrawal of foreign forces, but it could stabilise in 2015,” he said, urging Afghan authorities to create job opportunities, health and education facilities for repatriated refugees.

“We do not make the decision on behalf of the refugees for their return to Afghanistan, but we do advocate voluntary return and are committed to support and facilitate the return of those who do want to go back.”