The Pakistani state is using a carrot-and-stick approach towards the Afghan refugees remaining in the country. The carrot was announced on Friday, when the federal cabinet approved a decision allowing Afghan refugees to stay in Pakistan till March, which followed an earlier extension in June which had set the deadline of December. The stick has already been wielded. According to the UNHCR, in August more than 67,000 refugees were permanently repatriated to Afghanistan, an stunning increase from about 13,000 in July which itself was significantly more than the 1,250 the month before that. The reason for these ‘self-deportations’, said the UNHCR, was the decision by the government to close the Torkham border, an increase in security operations against refugees and harassment by the police, who are alleged to have exploited anti-refugee sentiment to demand bribes even if the refugees had the proper documentation. Given the harsher tactics employed against refugees, the leniency shown by the cabinet may seem surprising but it was likely spurred by politics. When Nawaz Sharif attends the UN General Assembly session later this month, he will be able to talk about Afghanistan with greater moral authority and assert Pakistan’s right to be involved in the future of the country since we are providing a home to so many Afghan refugees.
Politics alone, however, should not be our sole reason for letting refugees stay on. Even in the cutthroat world of international politics, there needs to be a place for humanitarianism. For most refugees, Pakistan is the only home they’ve ever known with Afghanistan a foreign land – and that too one filled with danger and peril. And since we bear some measure of responsibility for that peril thanks to our involvement with the mujahideen after the Soviet invasion and in both the pre- and post-9/11 turmoil in the country, that only increases our obligation towards the refugees. Afghan refugees have become a convenient scapegoat for many problems in the country, from terrorism to drugs and guns. Politicians from across the spectrum, from the KP Information Minister Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani to the Safron Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch have demanded refugees be sent home in recent month and law enforcement seems to be following their lead. The overwhelming majority of the refugees is here only to find a safe home and work a job. The federal cabinet should thus be praised for extending their deadline to March. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/149428-Deadlines-and-destitution
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