Pakistan’s changing policy towards Afghan refugees has raised concerns among some 1.7 million of them currently residing in the country. Most of these refugees fled their homes several decades ago during and after the Soviet-Afghan war and chose to settle in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and, in some cases, Karachi.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province whose larger cultural heritage closely resembles that of the Afghan tribes living on the other side of the Durand Line, offered them the peace of home, and they responded by forming long-lasting relationships and assimilating with the locals.
The bond between the Afghan refugees and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is deep-rooted and complex, and while repatriation is easy to talk about, we often fail to realise we’re talking about sending millions of people back to a place they haven’t called home in over 30 years. A generation of them haven’t even seen it, having been born on Pakistani soil.
Despite the extraordinary duration of their stay in Pakistan, most of these Afghans have spent their time here struggling to make ends meet. They have done some serious labour work, sold stuff from carts, spent hours collecting garbage on the streets and selling it for their families’ bread and butter, and many other similar tasks. But the more established Afghan families have established businesses in Pakistan, and some of them even own expensive property.
However, given recent developments on the security front, especially the brutal attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, law enforcement agencies have deduced that some of the Afghans settled in the country are not innocent refugees but facilitators of groups behind such hideous attacks. Many Afghan families have been interrogated and undocumented Afghan refugees have been asked to leave the country, causing a sudden rise in the number of people who are fleeing to Afghanistan.
Those living in makeshift homes and living below the poverty line while maintaining their Afghan identity had little trouble deciding to head back to Afghanistan, but for those who have spent decades building a new life here and chose to apply for Pakistani nationality, there are some major reservations with leaving just like that.
Some of these Afghan refugees possess Pakistani CNICs issued to them by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) following the necessary legal procedures. Since this effectively made them Pakistani citizens, they proceeded to invest in property – either directly or in the name of Pakistani relatives. Those who did so directly, i.e. in their own names, might now be facing some serious problems.
“The Government of Pakistan has announced that by the end of 2015, the NADRA-issued ID cards of Afghan refugees will be revoked,” Peshawar-based Al Saud Property’s CEO Mr Ali Khan Bangash told Zameen.com recently. He said the fear of losing ownership of their property in Peshawar after their ID cards are cancelled has led these Afghanis to sell their property quickly. However, buyers are few and most are hesitant to purchase property that could potentially have any sort of connection – however remote – with any groups involved in nefarious activities.
A general air of insecurity in Peshawar since the APS attack, coupled with rising insecurities among Afghan property-owners in Peshawar, has caused the city’s property market to bottom out. “A general drop in the value of property and a particular devaluation of Afghan-owned property is afoot in Peshawar at the moment. Their rising insecurity and rush to sell property has caused a price drop of nearly 30% in some of the most expensive localities in the city,” said Mr Bangash, who expects prices of Afghan-owned property to drop by another 50% by the end of the year.
Islamia Property CEO Mr Mazhar Wakeel Durani, however, believes that the situation is not as dire as it sounds, since these refugees have been living in Pakistan for decades and the ID cards they possess have been issued to them by NADRA, making them recognised citizens of Pakistan. “The Government of Pakistan will likely find less stern ways to deal with the Afghan refugees and not trouble the ones who very much consider themselves to be citizens of Pakistan,” he added.
Makkah Property Dealer and Builders CEO Mr Kashif Khan had similar views on the matter. “The last date for cancellation of their (Afghans’) ID cards will likely be extended, and meanwhile the two countries’ authorities concerned will sit down to find a way to help these people while keeping Pakistan’s concerns in mind,” he said.
For most of their recent history, Afghans have faced hardships that have often bordered on atrocity, but Pakistan’s brotherly attitude towards these refugees has also been acknowledged worldwide. Our country should not allow all that goodwill to go down the drain. Let’s hope that ends up being the case.
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hard steps have to be taken to restore the balance in society caused by illegal migrants living all over pakistan. basic principle of a society is that people of the land have first right over opportunities and resources of the land. If we don’t have enough resources to feed 200 million mouth then why should we continue allocating resources to illegal migrants. i would reiterate illegal migrant who are living out of their allocated camps, running businesses which are supposed to be run by pakistanis must be deported. Actually should have been deported long back. To accommodate brothers, we should follow examples of brother Iran and brother Turkey, how they managed the migrants.
All afghani should send back .
When talk about Money, everybody is of the same religion. It is pertinent here to keep criminality and economy separate. If found involved in criminal activities, the law should certainly take its legitimate course and deport such immigrants just as would happen to Pakistani workers abroad. Iran and Turkey, brothers or no brothers are at least self sufficient unlike the habitual begging Pakistani State. Has the Pakistani taxpayer seen any tax money flowing in health, education, infrastructure which is directly linked to their betterment ? All we see that that Empire of Pakistan is run by selected few. How can the immigrants possibly get any chunk out of the pie when the locals are deprived as well !! As mentioned in the article above, the immigrants have struggled hard just like the unprivileged locals in order to sustain their livelihoods. Apart from that Pakistan is a country heavily relying on hard earned remittances from abroad. Now how come our expatriates survive and thrive in foreign economies without having any type of acknowledgement there ? Same is the case with the Afghan immigrants here.