Afghan refugees

Is it high time they were sent back?

Pakistan is facing numerous challenges on different fronts. From sectarian violence to terrorism, from power shortage to a pervasive deprivation of basic rights, the list is extensive. One of these concerns is the self-inflicted issue of illegal Afghan immigrants that have made Pakistan their leisure resort. During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, a large number of Afghans began abandoning their country. As the result of ongoing civil war, political unrest, executions and other human rights violations taking place, around 3 million Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan. According to records, approximately 3.3 million Afghan refugees were contained in around 340 refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Later in 2001, the US and Allied Forces began military operations in Afghanistan. This again began the mass unrest, bringing the figure up to nearly 5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan by the end of 2001, which included the ones who were born inside Pakistan during the past 20 years. Most Afghans shifted to Pakistan without documentation, they neither registered themselves with any authority nor they were documented in any form creating a major security lapse.

The tribal belts of Pakistan hold majority of mountains and uneven land that cannot be monitored completely allowing illegal Afghans to travel easily between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tribes that inhabit these mountains have migrated seasonally between the borders of these two nations for centuries.

Afghans who moved to Pakistan as a result of the Soviet invasion have now permanently settled in Pakistan. About 70 percent of registered Afghans did not acquire any formal education or have showed any interest in educating their children. A survey report showed that Afghans are reportedly willing to work for lower wages than the average Pakistanis. Afghan labour is heavily employed in business sectors such as transport and construction.

Then there are economic concerns that most Afghans do not pay taxes whilst living in Pakistan. In Peshawar alone, Afghan traders are making billions of rupees while not paying single penny of tax, which not only puts extra burden on local taxpayers and businessmen but also deeply affects revenue collection. The population of Pakistan is around 180 million, making it the sixth most populous country in the world. As a result of this and a number of other reasons, including the political unrest in Pakistan, energy crises, rise of unemployment, and the strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Afghan immigrants are increasingly viewed as an additional economic and social burden on Pakistan. For example, the 2005 earthquake and the flood of 2010 laid massive strain on civil and military administration due to local residents and vast amount Afghan refugees.

Afghan border stretches out for 2,200 kms, which makes it very challenging to cover for surveillance. Moreover, the terrain makes it almost impossible to completely monitor the area.

The expanding drugs trade in the last few decades and the opium production in Afghanistan have taken a toll on Pakistan. According to a report, 90 percent of heroin from Afghanistan is smuggled into Central Asia, including Pakistan, making it part of the ‘Golden Crescent’, the title given to one of Asia’s two principal areas of illicit opium production (with the other being the Golden Triangle), located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, whose mountainous peripheries define the crescent. Afghanistan is known to be one of the major producer of high quality opium but owing to its geographical landlock, it has no existing connections to the international waters. This the nation counters by making illegal export of heroin and other drugs through Pakistan to various regions, such as Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Drug smuggling is also one of the major offences in which Afghans are arrested. Another form of smuggling is human trafficking. According to one particular report, asylum seeking Afghans, Iranians, and others wanting to reach Malaysia pay up to $10,000 to Pakistani human smugglers in the city of Karachi.

Research published in 2014 by the Punjab University indicated a sizable and growing number of Pakistani mafia members being actively involved in pedophilia, a shameful act that one cannot even openly discuss. Pedophilia is a common practice in Afghanistan. In a report published by The New York Times pedophilia or ‘Bacha Bazi’ is so common in Afghanistan that US Marines and soldiers were instructed not to intervene is this routine. This practice was also disclosed by a video documentary “Pakistan’s Hidden Shame” that shows the extent of this problem in Northern parts of Pakistan including Peshawar. Afghani kids that run from home are often an easy target of this hideous act. This practice is also a cause of spreading diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, herpes, syphilis and HPV.

The Afghan refugee continuous cross-border migration from Afghanistan to Pakistan is also one of the causes contributing to the spread of polio disease in the country. Vaccinating all the children living in refugee camps and nearby villages in the hostile area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is very difficult and mainly cases of polio are emerging from these areas.

Afghanis are also involved in illegal money transferring through Hundi and Hawala. Around 45 illegal money changers were arrested in 2015 only, allegedly involved in supporting terrorist organisations who were receiving funds through these money changers. Illegal money is also generated from stolen vehicles that are either sold in parts or half bodies, known as Kabli parts, which is damaging the legal importers who pay millions of rupees in taxes and duties on import. This illegal channel is on the rise in Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other car spare parts markets. The cars that are stolen from any city will be dissembled and distributed in these markets by parts.

Additionally, illegal Afghan registered SIMs being used in Pakistan are also a cause of worry. Such SIMs have been used in several terrorist activities. They are registered in Afghanistan and are smuggled in bulks by illegal trafficking like many other smuggled items. According to an assessment, 90 percent of terrorist activities in Pakistan are linked back to Afghan refugees or their camps. The APS Peshawar school massacre in December 2014, in which 144 students were martyred, regarded as the deadliest terrorist incident in Pakistan’s history, also involved six Afghan militants who were later arrested from Afghanistan by Afghan security agencies. In 2015, the Bacha Khan University incident in Charsadda, KP, took place, martyring around 22 individuals, mostly students. Four terrorists entered Pakistan through Torkham Border from Afghanistan and massacred the innocent. The attack was commanded from Afghanistan by Taliban commander and his deputy commander till the end.

Afghanis that are working as chai boys, boot polish, tire puncture and many other form of working class are involved in recce of high profile targets. They are often assigned the task of taking pictures and noting down details of protocol and surveillance roots. Case in point, the masons that worked in Bacha Khan University recently carried out the recce of the university and provided the critical information to the assaulters. Same technique is very common in kidnapping for ransom of different individuals. In a personal interview that I conducted of a victim of ransom kidnapping, the victim told me that his kidnappers took him to the border areas. He was told that the kidnappers had been keeping eye on him for one year. They openly told him that they had many sources in our cities and that we cannot even speculate the extent of their approach in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Most Afghan have no roots in Pakistan, nor do they have any sincerity toward Pakistanis. For them Pakistan is a country with rules that are easy to bend and lawlessness that can be used to their advantage. Making money is the only aspect that they have in their mind when they come here. Whether right or wrong is not of importance, Afghanis have been used in different proxy wars by agencies of other countries from a long time now. They are an easy disposable asset to be used against Pakistan at a reasonable price for maximum damage.

The Government of Pakistan receives estimated $133 million a year ($78 per person per year) from UNHCR for hosting Afghans on its side of the border but at a huge cost of security compromises and other major problems. It is time now to take serious measurements to secure our borders or we will be facing much worse circumstances in time to come. We must revise our foreign policy toward illegal Afghanis and take drastic decisions in this regard.

This, of course, does not necessarily mean deportation. There are bodies and institutions in Pakistan who sympathise deeply with the Afghans. They provide a strong case for the refugees. Afghans fled to Pakistan in hordes. Most of these are settled here now. They married, had children and their generations have flourished in the nation. The new generation was born and raised in Pakistan, this is the only life they’ve ever known. They sing the Pakistani national anthem, root for the Pakistani cricket team and engage in all the nuances that make us Pakistani. They have made their lives in Pakistan with years of hard work and can’t give that up.

According to the Afghans, in the light of recent events, misplaced resentment and agitation towards them have reached dangerous levels. The police harass them, take them away even if they have the required documents. Reports of Afghans being detained for no reasons are increasing with each passing day.

In this spirit, a system needs to be developed which can effectively record and monitor Afghans and determine who can stay in the nation and who can’t. The Afghans, if utilised properly, can become a crucial part of our economy and workforce.