At times when the country is passing through worst economic crisis, the burden of Afghan refugees is adding to the woes of our nation. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the total number of Afghan citizens in Pakistan is 42,29,000, of which 52.6 percent live in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24.1 percent in Balochistan, 14.3 percent in Punjab, 5.5 percent in Sindh, 3.1 percent in Islamabad and 0.3 percent in Azad Kashmir. While 6 lakh new Afghan refugees have entered Pakistan in recent years. There are three types of Afghan refugees who have been living in Pakistan for four decades due to the external aggression of Afghanistan.

One who has been registered as refugees by issuing proof of registration i.e. POR card from NADRA. As of June 2022, the number of Afghan citizens with POR was 13 lakh. The second category is those who have obtained Pakistan National Identity Card with the help of a Pakistani citizen, while the third category of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan is those who have no legal document, neither the UNHCR nor the government has any data on the number of such Afghan refugees.

However, after the end of the war in Afghanistan and the establishment of an organized government, the return of these millions of refugees to their homeland is the need of the hour.

This is also important because a large number of Afghan refugees are involved in the smuggling of drugs and other illegal goods under the guise of transit trade, which also contributes to terrorism in Pakistan from Afghanistan. Therefore, instead of unjustified rounding up of Afghan citizens by the state agencies, which is generally a source of bribery, the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan should, through mutual understanding, send these 4.2 million refugees to their homeland amicably within a reasonable period of time.

As if our economic issues were not enough, the Afghan people have also added to our financial woes and burden as they are flocking to Pakistan  due to  food shortage and denial of human rights at home after the  fall of Kabul to Taliban in Afghanistan. Since the take-over by Taliban,  Afghanistan has gradually been inching economic catastrophe and social breakdown as situation has reached to an alarming level with very little food available to Afghanistan people. Work and livelihood opportunities have shrunk under Taliban regime due to which they are running to neighbouring countries particularly Pakistan and Iran to seek refuge from the inhuman conditions at home. In this backdrop, once again our country is facing the influx of Afghan refugees as their country is being pillaged by the Taliban due to which a stream of Afghan refugees are entering Pakistan, which is already reeling under mammoth economic crisis including food shortage.  Ordinary people in Afghanistan are ravaged by war and perturbed over their destruction and dislocation, they want peace but the Taliban are persisting with their militant and extremist views. Every day, the Taliban high command in Afghanistan come up with new harsher steps denying human rights to its people, mostly women and girls, who  have been asked to even cover their faces when getting out of their homes and also to be escorted by their male members of the family when stepping out of their home. Doors of education and sports have also been closed on them while employment opportunities have been taken away from them. These circumstances are forcing them leave their soil. According to the UN refugee agency, there are over two and half lakh  Afghans who have arrived in Pakistan, seeking asylum, since the start of  2021. The overall number of Afghan refugees in the country is very high and these people who are devastated by the Taliban takeover are in need of international protection, food and shelter. As the Afghanistan soil is being used by a number of  militant groups like the IS-Khorasan chapter etc as confirmed by the UN report,  what is feared is that militants may enter Pakistan under the disguise of asylum seekers and hence it becomes urgent that there should be  a procedure to register and document the refugees. Though it is reported that the UN refugee agency has contacted Pakistan government and are devising a strategy to find a way forward on documentation of Afghan refugees, but the process is yet to be initiated.  The government is also aware of this grave issue of the influx of Afghan refugees and the previous cabinet also gave approval to  a  comprehensive policy under which, the government was supposed to issue transit visas to these refugees for  entering Pakistan  legally so that the documentation process is made easy both for Pakistan government and for facilitating the asylum seekers.

As per available information, there are an estimated 1.3 million documented and  as many undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, with KPK their main destination. And in the wake of current volatile situation in their country, majority of these Afghan refugees have no plans to return to their homes. It is not that in Pakistan they are provided with all their needs because they mainly live in places where they face many problems but they say that the conditions over here are much better as compared to their homeland.

At least they find job opportunities mostly labour, and free basic education here which is available to them in their home country. Besides KP province, the mega city of Karachi is also hosting over  three lakh of Afghan refugees, most of them working  as laborers in Pashtun-dominated localities of the city. Many of them are living in Karachi since the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 and their new generation which has been raised in Pakistan shows no interest in going back to their country due to economic crisis and also other issues, saying there is nothing for them in Afghanistan  as working opportunities are unable, the youth and girls are unable to go to schools and colleges and the businesses are in deficit and many are closed for ever. However, there is one more aspect to their presence in Pakistan and that is with them the militants also sneak into Pakistan under the disguise of the refugees and that is the real issue which needs to be addressed.

It is due to this factor, that Pakistani people have been blaming the Afghan refugees for the increase in gun culture, drug use, violence and other militancy.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 27 2023

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