Due to strong opposition by the people of Pakistan over the long presence of Afghan refugees, officials are putting pressure on the estimated 2.8 million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees to return to their homeland by the end of 2012.
The government has said it will not renew the ID cards of the 1.8 million registered Afghan refugees. They have been living in Pakistan for the last 23 years and would not go back unless and until forced to leave. Because of their presence, the crime rate in all the major cities has increased manifold.
They have also been a source of increasing unemployment because they have occupied some of the jobs of Pakistani work force. Officials said the UNHCR and other agencies would pressurise Pakistan to accept their further stay but due to strong opposition from the people and the provincial governments, it would not be possible to accede to their request. Last week, Ministry of States and Frontier Regions Secretary Habibullah Khan was quoted by the media as saying, “The international community desires us to review this policy but we are clear on this point. The refugees have become a threat to law and order, security, demography, economy and local culture. Enough is enough.”
“After December 31, there is no plan to extend the validity of the POR [proof of registration] cards of Afghan refugees. Those currently registered will lose the status of refugees. They will be treated under the law of the land. The provincial governments have already been asked to treat the existing unregistered refugees as illegal immigrants.”
“Asylum space is narrowing given that the government of Pakistan is pretty serious about returning most of them to Afghanistan,” said Aamir Fawad, protection officer with the UNHCR. “We are talking to the government to extend, but it is unclear what will happen.” In June, the government agreed to delay the forced repatriation of 400,000 Afghans who were rounded up in Peshawar for being in the country illegally.
Pressure on Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan mounts
