Nowhere to go: Afghan refugees weigh their dwindling options – The Express Tribune



ISLAMABAD: At 70 years old, Mohammad Issa is already struggling to survive in Islamabad, where he sought refuge from war in Afghanistan years ago. Suffering from a heart condition, he has trouble leaving the house and depends on his children, who collect cardboard for a living.

Yet with the legal status of Afghan refugees in jeopardy, Issa may be soon faced with the prospect of starting over back home.

“I have lived a very tough life. I am tired now. I don’t want to bother anyone. I just want to be left alone so I can live out the rest of my years,” Issa told IRIN, the UN information unit.

He is among 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan whose registration documents are set to expire at the end of this year. The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have not decided on an arrangement for the refugees beyond that date.

Decades of displacement

The first Afghan refugees came to Pakistan when the war in Afghanistan started in the late 1970s. Since then, many more have come and set up businesses, constructed homes and settled into professions. The governments in Islamabad and Kabul, with UNHCR assistance, have provided identification cards to refugees to protect them from forcible deportation.

But Pakistan’s Afghan refugees are now in limbo. Few can even afford to travel to the border if they are forced out.

At the Dhok Choorah settlement that houses about a hundred Afghan families in Islamabad, there is a mix of defiance, uncertainty and resignation.

“I have no plan, no money, if they force us out. I don’t even have the money for a bus to the border. We will have to walk,” said Najibullah Khan, 75, who scrapes together a living collecting paper and glass from the streets to sell to scrap yards. He barely earns enough to feed his five children, four of whom have learning disabilities.

Many younger Afghans, born and raised in Pakistan, do not see return to the country of their parents’ origin – which is still wracked with violence and lacks opportunity – as an option.

“There is no way I’m going back to Afghanistan, no way anyone is forcing me go to back,” said Khan Mohammad, 23, who works as a labourer at one of Islamabad’s busiest markets. “I’d rather die than allow my children and my wife to go to Afghanistan. There is nothing but bloodshed and misery there.”

“I’m trying to find a way to move to another country, but I have no money so it is difficult. But I’ll keep trying. If I fail, I’d rather stay here.”

Situation unclear

Pakistani officials have been quoted as saying registration cards for Afghan refugees will not be renewed, and that they will be asked to leave the country, but Pakistan’s government is rife with internal power struggles, and others insist no decision has yet been taken.

The situation remains unclear, said a senior government official at the Commissionerate Afghan Refugees, run by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. “Several discussions have taken place. We agree that the proof of registration cards will expire at the end of the year, but we have still not made a decision on what arrangement will be put in place after that,” he said while requesting anonymity.

UN officials have also said that no such decision has been made and that various bodies are in discussions over an arrangement.

Mohammad Hussain, 24, a law student who works as an office manager at a law firm in Islamabad, is holding out hope.

“No one is sure about our status after December 31, but I’ve talked to human rights lawyers, and I don’t think they will force us out. They can’t. It would be a major international issue and the UN will not allow that,” he said.

UNHCR says Afghans in Pakistan will maintain their refugee status regardless of the government of Pakistan’s decision.

“People have built their entire lives here. This is their home,” Hussain said. “The government can’t just say, ‘Leave everything and go.’”

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So the guys born in pakistan albeit of refugee parents, wouldn't they be automatically pakistani?

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Why cant these people be given the right of staying in Pakistan. If they don't want to leave and consider Pakistan as their country then they should not be deported! This is what the western countries do with refugees in Europe too!
Helping others helps you!
And please spare this klashnikov and drugs argument. As if we Pakistanis are cleaned with Abe Zamzum!

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[B][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=blue]Yeh Honsla Kaisay Jhukay, Yeh Aarzoo Kaisay Rookay[/COLOR][/FONT][/B]

sorry brother, you picked the wrong country. pakistanis don't like to leave others alone to live out their lives in peace. we'd much rather be judge jury and executioner to all matters, trivial or monumental. but i hope you find the peace you are looking for within our borders!

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those that own businesses here and are contributing positively to pakistani society should be offered refuge. but a large majority of them do not do that and are just a strain on our resources. we took them in when they wanted to run away from their country, and as a thank you they have sent us ttp, taliban, and radical islam into our borders. not sure how i feel about giving them citizenship as a blanket policy.

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could some one answer me the ppl who are born in pak should be pakistani by birth, so why the still consider refugees?

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people born in pakistan are pakistanis, the article is not disputing that. even the quote you are highlighted is even saying the same thing, it's saying that for people born and raised in pakistan, a return to the country of their parents origin is not an option. afghanistan is their parent's country not theirs

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If you are born to immigrant parents in Middle East, you don't become an Arab. There is no such thing as automatic Pakistani citizenship. A baseless assumption which should not be made here.

But albeit, Damage has already been done. This mess created in 80s has thrown Pakistan in stone ages. A culture was imposed upon original Pakistani culture, and the clash was inevitable. I feel for them on humanitarian grounds, many of these refugees don't align with either Govt. but again on Pakistan's resources, first right is of Pakistanis. Pakistan's economy is already shackling, it can't take their burden anymore. Especially, when there is always a lingering threat of extremism and spread of drugs associated with them.

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

ok thanks the way article been coming in I was confused as different account keep saying refugees and the children will be send back. I can understand refugees but ppl born inside pak are pakistani by birth.

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sorry bro, but you are wrong here. pakistani law is not like arab law regarding citizenship. please see below, directly from citizen act of 1951

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Pakistan citizenship act of 1951 clearly states anyone born in pak is pakistani citizen except ppl who are exempt from pak law (i.e diplomats) or whose father is deemed enemy of state. So unless we declared all refugees enemy of state everyone born in pak is pakistani.

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Afghans have a lot of sympathy with India, may be India can take them?
This pic in the article may or may not represent reality but the gentleman is trying to survive in "Islamabad"? really? Islamabad? I mean an ordinary Pakistani cannot even imagine living in Islamabad.

I tell you how it works...
Last time when I visited G-Sector of Islamabad one such afghan guy, a little healthier with a slightly longer gray beard and a rosary (Tasbeeh) in his hand came to me and subtly pointed towards a window of this apartment building where an Afghan prostitute was "ready" for a few hundred rupees.

You got the entire Pakistan plagued by Afghanies. Kidnapping for Ransom, thefts, burglaries, break ins, homicide, petty crimes, street crimes, rampant prostitution in the entire country, smuggling of Pakistani products into Afghanistan in return of poppy seed/heroin and many, many other illegal and unlawful criminal activities ... This is all what Afghanies do in Pakistan and yet they will cuss out at Pakistan at your face and express their love for India.
Personally, I have yet to see a more "baighairut" and "untrustworthy" people than Afghanies.

And this is the beef I have with Zia regime, he let them in and gave these animals a free hand to roam free in the country and openly abuse the privilege in comparison to what Iran did with Afghan refugees. STRICTLY placed them in the refugee camps where necessities of life were provided to them BUT ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TOWARDS IRANIAN CITIZENSHIP. Irrespective of whether you are born in Iran, if you are an Afghan you've GOTTA GO BACK. So Iran send them all back to Afghanistan while Pakistan was turned into hell by these creatures.

In my opinion, Pakistan's terrorism related problems and severe lack of agricultural products and many natural resources (causing high inflation) are primarily due to Afghanistan and million upon millions of Afghani parasities sucking Pakistani blood over a period of more than 40 years now.
If I had the power to fix Pakistan, this would have been my VERY FIRST STEP towards development of the country. ALL AFGHANIES (born in Pakistan, migrated to Pakistan, have a one parent of Pakistani origin) MUST GO BACK TO AFGHANISTAN, AND ALL THOSE PUSHTOON BROTHERHOOD CHANTING CROWD THAT SUPPORTS AFGHANIS MUST ALSO ACCOMPANY THEM AND ENJOY BROTHERLY LOVE AND HARMONY IN AFGHANISTAN. Enough is enough!

Then that's another mess Pakistan will get into. If they are Pakistanis then by law they are protected, which at first place they shouldn't be. Pakistani Govt. should have thought about it before bringing them over.

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

I would've completely agreed with you here.

But the problem is Pakistan's own law. And Pakistani Govt. should've thought about it before bringing them over. They should've known better about the mess they are getting into.

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

I dunno about other areas...but pre afghan refugees, there was no sohrab goth, no bara, which are practically no-go areas even for the rangers and police...with them also came the drugs and guns....and yes the guns werent around like they are now pre afghan refugees.

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SPARTANSSSS!!!!!! EAT HEARTY, FOR TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELLLLLLLL!!!!!
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