IT was in December 1979 that the USSR invaded Afghanistan and Pakistan very warmly welcomed over four million refugees fleeing for their lives from Afghanistan. It has now been over forty years that Afghanis have been enjoying the hospitality of Pakistan. Two generations of Afghans have grown up in Pakistan, were educated here, got married and many of them established their businesses and prospered. Most of the new generations of Afghans have no memory of Afghanistan and Pakistan is the only home they have ever known. Now suddenly the caretaker Govt. has initiated a crackdown on all illegal aliens in the country but this appears to be Afghan specific. Today almost half of the Afghans in Pakistan are undocumented and technically can be classified as illegal aliens and since the 31st October deadline announced by the Govt. over two hundred thousand Afghans have left the country, law enforcement agencies are now busy in rounding up and detaining foreign nationals mostly Afghans and placing them in detention centers.
Unlike Iran and some other countries Pakistan allowed the Afghan refugees to live and settle in urban areas and after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan the country descended into civil war and chaos giving no reason for the refugees to go back. The second wave of refugees poured into Pakistan after the US invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 tragedy and there was another influx after the departure of the American forces from Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan has a border of 2600 KM long with Afghanistan and it is practically impossible to stop the movement of people from across the border. After the US withdrawal over six million people fled Afghanistan in fear of the return of the Taliban rule. The new Taliban Govt. in Kabul has proved to be more hostile to Pakistan than the previous Karzai and Ashraf Ghani regimes. At the heart of the trouble is the banned TTP which got emboldened after the Taliban’s return. Despite repeated demands, the Afghan Taliban were reluctant to act against the TTP. The situation has now come to a point where Pakistan is resorting to measures that otherwise may not have been contemplated. The move to deport all undocumented Afghans is a clear message to the rulers in Kabul: if you host our enemies don’t expect any favor from us. According to international law and all canons of justice Pakistan is well within its rights to evict or expel all foreigners living illegally in the country but it is imperative to take into account all the serious consequences and implications of this new policy of the govt.
Pakistani media is full of news and images of the awful Israeli onslaught on Ghaza and the painful and tragic suffering of the Palestinians but they fail to show any image of the detained Afghans forced to go back to a country they have never seen before to an uncertain and bleak future for them and their children. Local police forces are now boasting of their operations against the Afghans and at the same time human rights and civil rights groups are not allowed to enter or write about the so called detention centers set up all over the country.
The current policy of deporting the Afghans is depressing and painful and all the more awful is the complete silence of human rights groups and many influential people in the media who are supportive of this policy and cite their own reasons for expelling the Afghans. The Afghan refugees question has always been very controversial in Pakistan but the ardent supporters of the expulsion policy have come up with their own reasons for this action. The very first reason being put forward is that the Refugees are a great strain and a burden on our economy. This claim has never been backed up by any supporting evidence or proof and no economic figure are available to substantiate this claim. Our present economic crisis is a result of bad governance, corruption, top heavy bureaucracy, perks and benefits to the elite, and our bloated expense on import of luxuries.
The expulsion of Afghans will have a rather negative impact on certain sectors like construction, transport and agriculture. Another reason for expulsion is that these people are a security threat. Nobody has bothered to explain how by expelling 17 million Afghans including women and children will improve the security situation. This action will definitely increase the hostile attitude of the Kabul regime and many young Afghans are likely to join the ranks of extremist militant groups with a religious agenda and anti-Pakistan objectives. Some people also argue that conditions in Afghanistan are now normal it is a peaceful country and the Afghan refugees can now return to their country. These people just ignore the conditions in Afghanistan where the country is still in the midst of a great humanitarian and economic crisis. Unemployment is sky high with great food insecurity, lawlessness and abject poverty with no guarantee of life and liberty. If this action was necessary it should have been dealt with by the next elected Govt. and not the caretaker administration who do not have a public mandate.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
Email: tariq.aqil@headstart.edu.pk
views expressed are writer’s own.
