The writer is an academic,
The Afghan refugees — once treated as endangered species and considered as strategic and economic assets of Islamabad — are now being driven out after Pakistan having hosted them for 40 years in an immoral and unsympathetic way, treating them as endangering species. The forced repatriation will besmirch all sacrifices we have made for the refugees in the name of faith.
Pakistan following the spirit of Ansar-e-Madinah had welcomed the Afghan refugees with open arms in the early 1980s when Soviet forces took over Afghanistan, while the wealthier nations, displaying indifference towards these people, were reluctant to provide them with sanctuary. For giving refuge to defenceless people fleeing from their homeland, Pakistan was highly praised by the international community. Today, of the 2.7 million Afghan refugees, approximately 1.5 million are registered refugees who have been living in the country. Roughly, 87 percent of them are Pakhtuns, while there is an almost similar number of unregistered and illegal refugees living in different parts of Pakistan.
At the moment, what is awful is the hostility and violence that the Afghan refugees — whether they have a refugee status or are unregistered — are reportedly experiencing from the police and other law enforcement agencies. They are tortured, detained, extorted and harassed all over the country. They are increasingly dealing with psychological damage as well as physical risks due to the modus operandi adopted by the government of Pakistan to send them back, a move that is against all notions of morality.
The occurrence of terrorist incidents in Pakistan, and the alleged involvement of Afghan refugees in criminal activities is said to be the crucial reason for the strategy of forced repatriation launched against Afghan refugees. However, it must be remembered that only some of them and not all of them might have links with terrorist organisations in Afghanistan. And therefore, those who are found involved in terrorist activities should be dealt with legally instead of repatriating them forcibly on the assumption that they are responsible for the killing of our innocent people.
Forced repatriation — sending refugees back to Afghanistan without their consent — is not only an unscrupulous strategy but also a clear breach of certain United Nations’ refugee related international laws that Pakistan is a signatory to. The best option — which is also in the national interest — is that Pakistan, in view of its current political, socio-economic and security scenario, should ensure safe return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with honour and dignity under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ volunteer repatriation programme.
Although all nation building institutions including an elected government and armed forces have been established to steer Afghanistan out of its crises, Afghan government has requested Pakistan government to continue hospitality for Afghan people until at least 2020. The Afghan government has stated that its internal security situation and economy are not in a position to absorb this huge load. Therefore, in this situation, the outpouring of people forcibly expelled from Pakistan, in no time, would cause more chaos in Afghanistan, leading to an outbreak of poverty and unemployment, which are the leading factors for rise of terrorism. This would badly affect the national security of Afghanistan as well as Pakistan.
According to an Oxfam report, the six wealthiest countries in the world — the US, China, Japan, Germany, France and the UK — which together make up 56.6 percent of global GDP between them host just 2.1 million refugees, which is 8.9 percent of the world’s total number of refugees. While poorer countries — Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Lebanon and South Africa — shouldering most of the burden host more than half of the world’s refugees: almost 12 million people. However, these states make up less than two percent of the world’s economy. In 2015, Turkey, with 2.5 million refugees, was once again the world’s biggest refugee hosting country, and Pakistan, with 1.6 million people, was next.
Currently, an average of 300 refugee families, after registering at the UN voluntary repatriation centres in Peshawar on a daily basis, are heading back to their homeland after selling all their properties and putting their household items on display for sale. However, before July, an average of 10 families were reportedly going back every day. Moreover, the return of 800 families is expected in forthcoming days. It shows the escalating trend of voluntary repatriation — which is a constructive development — as well as ensuring repatriation of all refugee families within the deadline. But it is not easy to go back to Afghanistan for those who have established big businesses in Pakistan, in which they have invested millions of rupees; the same is true of those who have intermarried with nationals of Pakistan.
Viewing the overall internal situation of Afghanistan, Pakistan, with open-mindedness, has to resolve the Afghan refugee problem, ensuring peaceful and respectable return of refugee families, under a voluntary repatriation policy. Extensions of deadlines, as Afghanistan government has requested, should be given a serious consideration.
Two international events — UNGA High-Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants and Leaders’ Summit on Refugees — scheduled to be held on September 19 and 20, 2016 are the appropriate platforms for Pakistan and Afghanistan to highlight the long-drawn-out Afghan refugees issue. These are also the appropriate platforms to highlight the importance and need for the international community, especially the wealthy nations, to support Afghanistan government for reintegration of its displaced people.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/22-Aug-16/forced-repatriation-of-afghan-refugees
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