Afghans in Pakistan

Afghans in Pakistan ( ur, , , ) are temporary residents from Afghanistan who are registered in Pakistan as refugees and asylum seekers. They fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Most of them were born and raised in Pakistan during the last four decades. Additionally, there are also Special Immigrant Visa applicants awaiting to immmigrate to the United States. Many Afghans in Pakistan receive financial support from family members in the Afghan diaspora.

The Pakistani government began admitting Afghans after the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979; by the end of 2001, there were over four million of them on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line. About 75% of them have returned to their native country of Afghanistan since 2002. , approximately 1,285,754 still remain in Pakistan. In descending order, the distribution of the total Afghan refugee population throughout each Pakistani province and territory is as follows: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (52.3%), Balochistan (24.5%), Punjab (14.4%), Sindh (5.6%), Islamabad (3.0%), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (0.3%). By ethnicity, Afghan refugees in Pakistan are Pashtuns followed by Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Baloch, Turkmen, and others.

History and migration

Afghans have been migrating back and forth between Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan since at least the times of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan was recognized as the Durrani Empire and ruled by a succession of Afghan kings with their capitals in Kandahar, Kabul, and Peshawar. In his 1857 review of John William Kaye's ''The Afghan War'', Friedrich Engels, the late-19th-century Durand Line demarcated the spheres of influence of British India's Mortimer Durand and the Afghan amir Abdur Rahman Khan. The single-page agreement in 1947 ending political interference beyond the frontier between Afghanistan and the British Indian Empire, inherited by Pakistan in 1947, divided the indigenous Pashtun and Baloch tribes.

One of the most notable periods of migration began in 1979. As the Soviet–Afghan War began, many Afghan citizens began to flee the country. The ensuing decade of violence at the hands of Soviet forces encouraged thousands more to follow, escaping what some considered to be "difficult, if not impossible, situations," which included the threat of mass arrests, executions, attacks on public gatherings, the destruction of Afghan infrastructure, as well as the targeting of Afghanistan's agricultural and industrial sectors. In total, nearly three million Afghan refugees escaped to Pakistan and about two million to Iran throughout the decade, though some figures estimate that by 1990, nearly 4.5 million undocumented Afghan refugees resided throughout Pakistan. Aided by the UNHCR, and primarily funded by the United States government, Pakistan continued to accept and support the inclusion of these Afghan refugees throughout the decade. In late 1988, roughly 3.3 million Afghan refugees were housed in 340 refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). It was reported by ''The New York Times'' in November 1988 that about 100,000 refugees lived in Peshawar and more than two million lived in KP (known as the North-West Frontier Province at the time). On the outskirts of Peshawar, the Jalozai camp was one of the largest refugee camps in the NWFP.

According to one researcher, the refugees consisted of various groups of migrants. Some were individuals "who came from politically prominent and wealthy families with personal and business assets outside Afghanistan; a small group who arrived adassets that they could bring with them such as trucks, cars and limited funds and who have done relatively well in Pakistan integrating into the new society and engaging successfully in commerce; those refugees who came from the ranks of the well-educated and include professionals such as doctors, engineers and teachers; refugees who escaped with household goods and herds of sheep, cattle and yaks but for the most part must be helped to maintain themselves; the fifth and the largest group, constituting about 60 per cent of the refugees, are ordinary Afghans who arrived with nothing and are largely dependent on Pakistan and international efforts for sustenance."

Though through migration many Afghan refugees avoided immense violence, they were still subject to political injustice and discrimination at the hands of their host country—Pakistan. The subsequent decade saw considerable change in regard to the attitudes and feelings toward Afghan refugees throughout Pakistan. Though the nation initially welcomed these migrants, utilizing "terms from Islamic discourse to justify welcoming heserefugees in their time of need", the nation quickly turned on their subjects, blaming them for a number of issues present throughout the country over the following 3 decades (until the eventual repatriation from 2001 to 2009), including terrorism, unemployment, disease, along with various other conflicts. This, to some degree, can be attributed to a dependency on U.S. funding, which provided nearly $160 million in funds to Pakistans' government in 1984, rising to nearly $630 million in 1987. These funds arguably persuaded Pakistans participation in housing Afghan refugees as opposed to humanitarian issues. As a result, Afghan refugees faced a number of inequalities, including a lack of political representation. In order to migrate to Pakistan, Afghan refugees were required to register to one of the seven Islamic parties pre-approved by the Pakistani government. In doing so, the Pakistani government hoped to prevent the emergence of a single, political entity on behalf of the Afghan refugees, and thus, prevent a "Palestinization" of Pakistan. As a result, the voice of Afghan migrants was largely silenced.

By the mid-1980s, the political injustice toward Afghan refugees began to escalate to violence. In 1986, a new political party began to emerge. Known primarily as the "Muhajir Qaumi Movement" (MQM), though also referred to as the "Refugee National Movement," this party sought to gain rights for the 'muhajir' refugees on which 'Pakistan had been built.' Yet, Afghan refugees were not included in this representation, and instead were made a target by the political leaders of the MQM. Included in the MQM's 'Charter of Demands', they requested the immediate placement of Afghan refugees in camps, and the subsequent expropriation of their property, causing a number of riots by Afghan refugees to erupt throughout Pakistan. As the MQM continued to grow throughout the decade, so too did the exclusion and violence toward Afghan refugees. In addition to the violence, the MQM created a rhetoric that largely altered the perception of Afghan refugees, as they were labeled as extremist and alien to the 'secular' Islamic state that the MQM hoped to create within Pakistan.

This 'extremist' rhetoric resurfaced after 9/11, and was evidence of the final shift in the attitudes held by Pakistan toward Afghan refugees. Prior to 9/11, the Pakistani government had already stopped the issuing of food rations to refugee villages, yet following the attacks on the World Trade center, and the subsequent global focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan decided to move toward the complete repatriation of Afghan refugees. Claiming that these refugees were to blame for the growing security concerns within the country, along with the subsequent branding of these individuals as terrorists, Pakistan, with support of the UNHCR, began to facilitate 'voluntary repatriation'. From March to December 2002, Pakistan 'voluntarily repatriated' nearly 1.52 million refugees, and an additional 5 million over the following six years. Yet, there is sufficient reasoning to believe that these were not as 'voluntary' as advertised, as a joint report from the UNHCR and Pakistan suggested 82% of refugees reported to 'not wish to repatriate'. Regardless, millions of refugees were subsequently deported, and returned to a country in which they had little-to-no ability to earn a livelihood, which was only further complicated due to the lack of resources in comparison to the number of individuals being repatriated.

UNHCR repatriation

Since 2002, the UNHCR has repatriated 4,385,568 Afghan refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan. According to ''Census of Afghans in Pakistan'', a 2005 Pakistani Ministry of States and Frontier Regions report, the ethnic breakdown of Afghans in Pakistan was Pashtuns (81.5 percent), Tajiks (7.3 percent), Uzbeks (2.3 percent), Hazara (1.3 percent), Turkmen (2.0 percent), Balochi (1.7 percent) and others (3.9 percent).

In 2005 the government of Pakistan began registering all Afghans, and the number of registered Afghans was reported at 2.15 million in February 2007. They received computer-generated "proof of registration" (PoR) cards with biometric features—similar to the Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) but with "Afghan Citizen" on its front.

More than 357,000 Afghans were repatriated from Pakistan in 2007, and Afghans were repatriated between March and October of each subsequent year. Returnees were reportedly to be given land by the Afghan government to build a home, and each person received a travel package worth about $100 (which was increased to $400). About 80 percent of the returnees came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 percent from Balochistan, 3 percent from Sindh and the remaining 4 percent from rest of the country.

In June 2010 Pakistan ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture, which forbids member states from deporting, extraditing or returning people where they will be tortured. The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has increased its efforts toward a large-scale deportation of Afghan refugees from the province. The Afghan minister of refugees and repatriation announced that his ministry would establish 48 towns in Afghanistan for refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran.

Between 2010 and the end of 2012, a reported 229,000 Afghan refugees returned from Pakistan. Some Pakistani officials have estimated that 400,000 non-registered Afghans may be residing in their country.

A total of 380,884 Afghan refugees left Pakistan for Afghanistan in 2016. Most were born and raised in Pakistan but are still counted as citizens of Afghanistan. The UNHCR reported in June 2022 that 1,285,754 registered Afghan refugees still remained in Pakistan. As registered refugees, they are permitted by law to work, rent homes, travel, and attend schools in the country. A small number of Afghans are waiting to be resettled in countries of North America, Europe, Oceania and elsewhere.

New border-crossing rules

A number of Afghan passport holders travel to Pakistan with a visa for a variety of reasons, including tourism, family visit, business, medical treatment, education, or sport competition. The visa, free of charge, is usually valid for three months.

Throughout history, most Afghans and Pakistanis have been crossing the border between their countries without passports or visas. But in recent years this travel freedom began to be restricted. Pakistan has introduced a "visa regime for different categories of Afghan nationals." Residents of Kandahar Province generally do not require a passport or visa to enter Pakistan.

Demographics

Most citizens of Afghanistan are found in the Pashtun-dominated areas of Pakistan, which include Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Quetta-Chaman region of Balochistan. Smaller communities exist in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Azad Kashmir.

Ethnically, eighty-five percent of Afghan citizens in Pakistan are Pashtuns and the remaining 15 percent are Uzbeks, Tajiks and others. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosts the largest population of Afghan citizens with 52.3%, followed by Balochistan (24.5%), Punjab (14.4%)), Sindh (5.6%), Islamabad (3%), and Azad Kashmir (0.3%).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

According to latest UNHCR report, around 834,387 registered citizens of Afghanistan reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War, Peshawar was a center for Afghan refugees. The Jalozai refugee camp alone had over 100,000 residents in 1988. Peshawar assimilated many Afghans with relative ease, and the city became home to many Afghan musicians and artists.

Balochistan

About 327,247 Afghan citizens reside in Balochistan. After Peshawar, Quetta has the second-highest percentage of Afghan refugees (20 percent). Most Afghans in Quetta are engaged in business and work in the city. Balochistan shares demographics with Afghanistan, and many refugees have migrated to the province for ethnic links. A 2005 census of Afghans in Balochistan indicated that the overwhelming majority were Pashtun, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Baluchis, Hazaras and Turkmen. Quetta has the largest concentration of Hazara people outside Afghanistan, based in areas such as Hazara Town. Due to social unrest and Hazara persecution, the Afghan refugees are trying to resettle in other countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, Canada, etc.

The first wave of Afghan Hazaras arrived during the 1980s Soviet war, and more arrived fleeing persecution by the Taliban regime in the 1990s. They forged closer links with their Pakistani Hazara patrons, whose ancestors had arrived during Amir Abdur Rahman Khan's reign in the late 1800s (when Quetta was part of Afghanistan); these Pakistani Hazaras have some influence in the Balochistan government. Instead of living in settlement camps, many Hazaras have settled in cities.

Punjab

The province of Punjab has roughly 168,351 citizens of Afghanistan. In June 2007, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) registered 16,439 Afghans in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore; their number was reported at about 7,000 in October 2004.

Sindh

Sindh has a total of 66,111 registered citizens of Afghanistan. In 2009, their number was approximately 50,000. A UNHCR spokesman said, "Sindh is home to some 50,000 Afghan refugees and most of them are staying in Karachi". "The police can move only against unregistered Afghans, whose number is very small in Karachi", said a senior Karachi police official. In Karachi, the non-wealthy Afghans reside in Pashtun-dominated suburbs such as Sohrab Goth. The middle-class reside in places such as Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and the wealthy in Bahria Town and Defence Housing Authority, Karachi.

Islamabad Capital Territory

Approximately 35,003 registered Afghan citizens reside in Islamabad. Before 2006 about 25,000 lived in a refugee camp in the Islamabad Capital Territory. The camp was closed, its refugees relocated and 7,335 Afghans were reportedly living in Rawalpindi. In 2009, it was reported that the UNHCR helped about 3,000 refugees move from the slums of Islamabad to an undeveloped plot of land in a green belt on the edge of the city.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan

Azad Kashmir has 4,341 Afghans and Gilgit-Baltistan merely 5. During the 1980s, about 13,000 Afghans migrated to cities in Azad Kashmir. According to a 2011 article in ''The News International'', Afghans and other foreigners in Azad Kashmir were perceived as a security risk. In 2015, there were 11,000 unregistered Afghan refugees in Azad Kashmir who faced possible expulsion or deportation. Afghan ethnic groups from the Wakhan Corridor have historically migrated to the Gilgit–Baltistan region of northern Pakistan.

Society

The population of Pakistan was about 213 million in 2017, making it the world's fifth-most-populous country. Due to political unrest and economic crises in Pakistan, Afghan immigrants are viewed as an additional burden on Pakistan.

Relationship with Pakistani society

Due to historical, ethnic and linguistic connections, Afghan immigrants in Pakistan find it relatively easy to adapt to local customs and culture. There are few obstacles to transition and assimilation into mainstream society; culture shock for Afghan Pashtuns is relatively small in parts of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern parts of Balochistan. In 1997-2001, Pakistan was very bias towards Afghan refugees that they threatened to shut down the border and forcibly return Afghan who had the right to be there under asylum.

Similarly, Hazaras from Afghanistan can easily assimilate due to the presence of Hazaras in Balochistan. However, this is not the case for the Tajiks from Afghanistan. Most Afghan immigrants are fluent in Urdu

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases