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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