Return of Afghan refugees : A tough task ahead
SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Return of Afghan refugees has become a matter of concern. Since last three decades number of Afghan refugees is residing in Pakistan. Among four million Afghan refugees Pakistan has 1.7 million registered. They are living in refugee camps. The UNHCR pays a paltry $133 million a year to Pakistan for looking after Afghan refugees. Most registered refugees were born and raised in Pakistan and are legally allowed to work and live indefinitely in the country. Many are contributing to Pakistan’s economy by being engaged in trade, businesses and as workers, especially in the transport and construction sectors. Their children are enrolled in Pakistani schools, colleges and universities. For a population which is believed to have reached 200 million since its last census in 1998, hosting three million refugees from a brotherly Muslim country separated by a yet-to-be mutually recognised border should hardly be a problematic burden. Still, some 30,000 Afghan refugees fearing retaliatory persecution are said to have left for home after the Army Public School (APS) tragedy in December 2014. And as of February this year, some 1,000 Afghans are said to be returning home daily through the Torkham border. The fear is not misplaced as more than 90 per cent of terrorist attacks in Pakistan have been traced to Afghan refugee camps. And after the launching of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan and the APS tragedy, the host-guest relationship appears to have been damaged rather seriously.
However it would be hard for Afghanistan to accommodate 3 million citizens while Afghanistan is still in war like situation. The matter requires delicate handling by both Pakistan and Afghanistan as it concerns dislocating millions of human beings from an adopted to a permanent home. At a time when Afghanistan is in perpetual war Pakistan should wait and still postpone this matter. When the situation normalizes, then by joint consensus a strategy should be evolved for the safe return of these refugees.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
