GIVEN the increasing focus on Afghan refugees inside Pakistan, it is often forgotten by people here that this vulnerable group also finds itself displaced within its own borders. According to an Amnesty International report poignantly titled, My Children Will Die This Winter: Afghanistan’s Broken Promise to the Displaced, Afghan refugees continue to live in appalling conditions without adequate shelter, food, water, education or healthcare facilities. This situation marks the failure of the Kabul government to implement the 2014 IDP policy — not surprising given the lack of resources and expertise in addition to corruption. With aid money dwindling, the international community must be held to its pledges to end the displacement crisis. With a staggering 1.2 million people internally displaced in Afghanistan — an increase from 500,000 in 2013 — the overall situation is reflective of the ominous shape of things to come. For its part, Pakistan, host to 1.5 million documented Afghan refugees, must understand the implications of this crisis. While it is true that Afghan refugees have, of late, increasingly found themselves in the cross hairs of the Pakistani state, any move to forcibly repatriate them will only breed a generation deprived of education and job opportunities but with access to militancy. This would defeat the counterterrorism efforts of both countries that should be cooperating on providing the refugees with security and shelter rather than indulging in political point-scoring against one another.
Meanwhile, that the Afghans — after the Syrians — make up the second largest population of migrants (2.6 million people) is a stark reminder that reasons for migration — security, economic stagnation and staggering unemployment rates — remain the same. The UN asked for $393m in humanitarian funding for Afghanistan this year — the smallest amount in years despite the crisis. By May, it had received less than a quarter of that figure. This points to lethargy and a lack of commitment. It is, therefore, incumbent on Kabul and the international community to ensure the IDP policy is implemented to prevent a worsening of the crisis.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1263005/afghan-displacement
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