Afghans in Pakistan

Afghans in Pakistan (Urdu: افغان مُہاجر, Muhajir Afghans) are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, some 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Pakistan, majority of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and northwestern Balochistan. Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still counted as citizens of Afghanistan.^[2][3] Those designated as refugees are under the protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and provided legal status by the Government of Pakistan to remain in the country until the end of 2012.^[1]

The overwhelming majority of Afghans in Pakistan are ethnic Pashtun tribes who are known to live and work on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, but there are also significant numbers of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Baloch and other ethnic groups of Afghanistan.^[4] As of March 2012, Pakistan has banned extension of visas to all foreigners, including Afghans.^[5][6]

Political history and migration

The red line between Afghanistan and Pakistan is called the Durand Line. Nearly all Afghan refugee camps are located in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan as well as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (in blue).

Dynasties, especially from the time of the Ghaznavids of Ghazni, and nomad people from modern-day Afghanistan have been migrating to the Indian subcontinent (modern-day Pakistan and India) for centuries. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan and the entire present-day Pakistan were part of the Durrani Empire and ruled by a successive line of Pashtun kings who had their capitals in the Afghan cities of Kandahar and Kabul. In 1857, in his review of J.W. Kaye's The Afghan War, Friedrich Engels describes "Afghanistan" as:

[...] an extensive country of Asia [...] between Persia and the Indies, and in the other direction between the Hindu Kush and the Indian Ocean. It formerly included the Persian provinces of Khorassan and Kohistan, together with Herat, Beluchistan, Cashmere, and Sinde, and a considerable part of the Punjab [...] Its principal cities are Kabul, the capital, Ghuznee, Peshawer, and Kandahar.^[7]

Thus, interaction and migration between the native people in this region was common. After the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Durand Line was established in the late 1800s for fixing the limits of sphere of influence between Mortimer Durand of British India and Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. When Pakistan inherited this single-page agreement in 1947, which was basically to end political interference beyond the frontier line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India,^[8] it divided the indigenous ethnic Pashtun and Baloch tribes. Most of the wars that Pakistan and Afghanistan have experienced since the 1940s with their other neighbors (India and former USSR) somehow relate to this Durand Line border.

During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, large number of Afghans began leaving their country. As a result of political unrest, mass arrests and executions, and other human rights violations, as well as the civil war, around 3 million Afghan refugees escaped to Pakistan and about 2 million to Iran (see Afghans in Iran). The migration began after December 1979 when the former Soviet Union (USSR) invaded Afghanistan with over 100,000 troops and continued throughout the 1980s.

In late 1988, approximately 3.3 million Afghan refugees were housed in 340 refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border in what is now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. It was reported by the New York Times in November 1988 that about 100,000 of the refugees were living in the city of Peshawar while more than 2 million were staying in the whole of KP, which was referred to as NWFP at the time. Located on the outskirts of Peshawar, the now-closed Jalozai camp was one of the largest refugee camps in NWFP.^[9]

According to one researcher, who writes that these refugees were: (1) Those "who came from politically prominent and wealthy families with personal and business assets outside Afghanistan; (2) a small group who arrived with the assets that they could bring with them such as trucks, cars and limited funds and which has done relatively well in Pakistan integrating into the new society and engaging successfully in commerce; (3) those refugees who came from the ranks of the well-educated and include professionals such as doctors, engineers anld teachers; (4) Refugees who escaped with household goods and herds of sheep, cattle and yaks but for the most part must be helped to maintain themselves; (5) the fifth and the largest group constituting of about 60 per cent of the refugees are ordinary Afghans who arrived with nothing and are largely dependent on Pakistan and international efforts for subsistence."^[10]

After the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States, when the U.S.-led forces were getting ready to bomb al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Afghanistan, an unknown number of Afghans fled their country and crossed into Pakistan. This included mostly foreign militant groups (al-Qaida), local Taliban members and some ordinary Afghans who feared that they may end up being bombed by mistake. By the end of 2001, there were a total of approximately 5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which included the ones who were born inside Pakistan during the past 20 years. The Afghan diaspora in Pakistan formed the largest group of Afghans living outside their country at the time.^[10]

UNHCR repatriation and current status

Afghans who were repatriated are arriving to Afghanistan in 2004.

Since early 2002, more than 5 million Afghans have been repatriated through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from both Pakistan and Iran back to their native country, Afghanistan.^[11] According to a 2005 report Census of Afghans in Pakistan by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Government of Pakistan), the ethnic breakdown of Afghans in Pakistan was as follows: Pashtuns (81.5%), Tajiks (7.3%), Uzbeks (2.3%), Hazara (1.3%), Turkmen (2.0%), Balochi (1.7%) and others (3.9%).^[4]

From 2005 to late 2006, the Government of Pakistan began and completed a registration process of all Afghans living in the country. The total number of registered Afghans were reported at 2.15 million in February 2007.^[12] They were all issued computerized "proof of registration" (PoR) cards with special biometric features, similar to the Pakistani National Identity Card (NIC) but has "Afghan Citizen" on the front.^[13]

More than 357,000 Afghans were repatriated from Pakistan in the year 2007.^[14] The repatriation process took place between March and October of that year, with each person receiving a travel package of about 100 US dollars. Approximately 80% of the refugees were those living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13% from Balochistan, 3% from Sindh, and the remaining 4% from Punjab and Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad.^[15]

As of March 2009, up to 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees still remain in Pakistan. Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still counted as citizens of Afghanistan.^[3] They are allowed to work, rent houses, travel and attend schools in the country until the end of 2012.^[16] Because Afghanistan is not ready to accept so many returnees at this point, the UNHCR is shifting small number of refugees abroad, mostly to Canada, Australia, Germany, Norway,^[17] Sweden and other countries. Each family that returns to Afghanistan, on production of repatriation documents issued by the UNHCR, is believed to be provided free plot of land by the Government of Afghanistan to build a new home.^[18]

Between 2010 and 2011, a total of 146,000 Afghan refugees left Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan.^[19] This would technically leave behind about 1,634,000 refugees in Pakistan. In addition, an unknown number of Afghan passport holders travel to Pakistan with a visa for various reasons, including family visit, business or trade, medical purpose, sport competitions, education, tourism, or to visit foreign embassies that are based inside Pakistan. Some go without the necessary travel documents and when arrested they either pay fines or spend time in jail.^[20] The same is the case for Pakistanis who work inside Afghanistan. The visa fee between the two states is free of charge and is usually valid for three months. As of March 2012, Pakistan has banned extension of visas to all Afghan nationals.^[5]

Demographics and other details

Karim Sadiq, player for the Afghanistan national cricket team, once lived in Pakistan.

Hasti Gul, another player in Afghanistan national cricket team, formerly lived in Peshawar.

Most Afghans are generally found in the Pashtun dominated areas of Pakistan, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the city of Quetta in northern Balochistan. Smaller communities exist in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, and possibly other major cities.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the FATA

During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, Peshawar served as a center for hosting Afghan refugees. The Jalozai refugee camp alone hosted an Afghan population of 100,000 during the 1988 election when Benazir Bhutto was running for Prime Minister of Pakistan. Peshawar managed to assimilate many of the ethnic Pashtun Afghans with relative ease,^[21] which has been historically (pre-1893) one of the principal cities of Afghanistan.^[7] Thousands of Afghan immigrants reside in various parts of Peshawar such as Latifabad, Zaryab colony, Hayatabad, Tehkal, Afghan colony, Afridiabad and Sethitown.^{[citation needed]} During their long stay, the city of Peshawar became home for many Afghan musicians and artists.

Balochistan

After Peshawar, the city of Quetta ranks second with the most number of Afghan refugees (11%). Most Afghans in Quetta are engaged in lucrative business and trade activities; they have also bolstered inter-provincial trade and actively go on to work in large urban centres.^[22] Balochistan also shares similar demographics with Afghanistan and a large number of the refugees have hence migrated into the province based on ethnic links. A 2005 census of Afghans in Balochistan showed that the overwhelming majority were Pashtun, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Baluchis, Hazaras and Turkmen.^[22] Quetta is notably known as having the largest concentration of ethnic Hazaras outside Afghanistan, based in areas such as Hazara Town. The Afghan Hazaras not only arrived during the 1980s Soviet war but also after fleeing persecution under the Taliban regime in the 1990s. They developed closer links with their Pakistani Hazara patrons who had arrived during Amir Abdur Rahman Khan's reign in the late 1800s when Quetta was still part of Afghanistan. Today, these Pakistani Hazaras exercise some political influence in the provincial Government of Balochistan. As opposed to settlement camps, a great number of the Hazaras are largely urbanised and have settled in city centres.^[22]

Sindh

According to the UNHCR and the local law enforcement agency, about 50,000 Afghan refugees live in Karachi as of 2009.^[16]

Sindh is home to some 70,000 Afghan refugees and most of them are staying in Karachi.^[16]

— Syed Bilal Agha spokesman for the UNHCR

The police can move only against unregistered Afghans, whose number is very small in Karachi.^[16]

—a senior police official in Karachi, February 2009

Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Before 2006, there were about 25,000 Afghans living in a refugee camp between the capital Islamabad and the adjoining sister city of Rawalpindi. After the closure of the camp, the refugees were relocated and about 7,335 Afghans were reported to be living in Rawalpindi.^[23] In 2009, it was reported that the UNHCR helped some 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.^[24]

Punjab

In June 2007, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) registered 16,439 Afghans living in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.^[25] Their number was reported at about 7,000 in October 2004.^[26] It was reported that some of the very poor ones (i.e. the trash pickers), began leaving for Afghanistan in October 2001 to fight against the United States armed forces in the 2001-present war in Afghanistan. During the same time, some Afghans were arriving to Lahore to escape the US-led bombings in Afghanistan.^[27]

Kashmir

During the 1980s, around 13,000 made their way to various cities of Azad Kashmir^[28] but their current status is unknown. A news article by Mazhar Tufail in The News International mentioned that there may be some Afghans among other foreigners in Azad Kashmir but no other details were provided.^[29]

Social life and other issues

Aryan Khan, a TV personality in Afghanistan, formerly lived in Pakistan.

Although most of the Afghans live in specially designated refugee camps near the Pakistan-Afghan border, where they do not have much contact with mainstream Pakistani society and culture, some travel to nearby cities for work or other purposes. The population of Pakistan is about 180 million, making it the 6th 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 2010 Pakistan floods have not only affected Pakistanis but also the Afghan refugees.^[30]

Culture and relations with Pakistani society

Due to historical, ethnic and linguistic connections, Afghan immigrants living in Pakistan find it relatively easy to adapt to local customs and culture and there are few obstacles for transition and assimilation into mainstream society; the impact of a culture shock for Afghans who settle in Pakistan is comparably little. An increasing number of Afghan immigrants have adopted Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, as their second or third language and can fluently speak it.^[3]

Afghans who were born and raised in Pakistan identify themselves as Pakistanis, and express their loyalties and patriotism by referring to Pakistan as their home.^[3] They participate in various national festivities and occasions, including Independence Day celebrations.^[31]

Afghan communities have managed to retain and preserve their cultural values, traditions and customs despite the years of fighting and tough socio-economic conditions back in their country.^[32] The shared Pashtun culture of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as other cultures, makes it easier for Afghans to feel familiar in Pakistan.Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still counted as citizens of Afghanistan.^[3]

Education and economics

At least 71% of registered Afghans did not have any formal education and only 20% were active in the labour market. Despite some of economic the hardships and challenges faced in Pakistan, many Afghans are not willing to return home in the nearby future, citing security concerns and lack of shelter or livelihood opportunities in Afghanistan.^[33] About 6,500 Afghans are studying in various universities across Pakistan, with 729 or so as exchanged students who earned scholarships from the Government of Pakistan.^[34] There are also numerous Afghan schools throughout Pakistan which cater to the educational needs of thousands of Afghan refugee children.^[35][36] The wealthy and well-off Afghans live in cities where they rent houses, drive cars, work in offices or run own businesses, with their children being enrolled in better schools and universities. Many of them receive remittances from family or friends living abroad. For example, thousands of the Kennedy Fried Chicken owners and workers transfer money every month to their extended families in Pakistan. The self employed Afghans living in Pakistan are usually involved in the Afghan rug business, Afghan cuisines, Afghan bakeries (making and selling Afghan bread), import-export, auto showrooms, or small shops. A number of Afghans are involved in the mainstream media of Pakistan as television hosts, actors and news anchors. Najiba Faiz is originally from Kunduz, and she along with several others are popular faces on AVT Khyber and other stations.^[37] While some may drive taxi cabs or sell fruits and other products as vendors, others work in five star hotels such as the Serena and Marriott. Many also work in factories or as employees for Pakistani shop owners.^[38] A 2007 report explained 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.^[4]

There are economic concerns that most Afghans do not pay taxes while living in Pakistan. In Peshawar alone, 12,000 Afghan nationals were undertaking business operations while not paying a single amount of tax.^[39] Afghan traders were making billions of rupees while not paying tax, which not only puts extra burden on local taxpayers and businessmen but also deeply affects revenue collection. To address these concerns, the Federal Board of Revenue implemented new measures to bring all Afghan traders into the tax net.^[40]

Health

The Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are not only helped by the UNHCR but also by the UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), USAID, and a number of other aid agencies. In October 2011, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gilani blamed continuous cross-border migration from Afghanistan to Pakistan as one of the causes contributing to the spread of polio disease in the country. Gilani explained that vaccinating all the children living in refugee camps and nearby villages in the "inhospitable" terrain along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was very difficult. He requested help from the international community while on his trip in the United Kingdom.^[41]

Sport

Cricket in Afghanistan has been widely spread and promoted due to Afghan refugees, who became influenced by the game while living in Pakistan.^[42] Most players in the Afghanistan national cricket team are composed of men who previously lived in Pakistan. Afghan cricket teams, such as the Afghan Cheetahs, frequently participate in various Pakistani domestic cricket tournaments.

Discrimination

This section requires expansion.

Although Afghans in Pakistan have been treated a lot better compared to those living in Iran, some reports have shown that they are sometimes harassed by corrupted Pakistani policemen even when they provide legal travel documents. Afghans also face stereotypes related to terrorism.^[43]

Crime

The huge influx of Afghan refugees into Pakistan in the 1980s is widely attributed to have contributed to the rise of conservative kalashnikov culture, terrorism, sectarian violence, religious fundamentalism, drug trafficking, illegal cross-border smuggling, environmental issues, organised crime, and other socio-economic law and order problems in the country.^{[44][45][46][47][48][49]}

Fake identity documents

Thousands of Afghans were reported to be languishing in various Pakistani jails as of May 2011, most of whom are arrested for offenses ranging from petty crimes to not having a proof of registration (PoR) card, Pakistani visa or Afghan passport.^[20][50] In March 2007, as many as 337 Afghan nationals "were arrested for illegally travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj on fake Pakistani passports. After serving their prison sentence and paying fines, they were releaased on "the condition they will not enter Pakistan illegally again."^[51] There has been a debate in Pakistan about issuing Pakistani National Identity cards to the remaining registered Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan, many of which were born inside Pakistan. But several Pakistani politicians expressed their objection to the idea. One of them stated "they have overstayed their welcome, scattered across our cities and taken up our jobs".^[52]

In May 2012, at least 278 Afghans were arrested by intelligence agencies for possessing fake Pakistani Computerized National Identity Cards. According to sources related to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afghan refugees had acquired the Pakistani identity cards from NADRA offices in small towns through fraudulent means. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa officials said that action would be taken against the Afghans who were involved in the fraud as well as those who facilitated them.^[53]

Smuggling

Soldiers of the U.S. armed forces intercept illegal timber as it is smuggled through Kunar Province in Afghanistan into neighboring Pakistan.

Smuggling became a major business after the establishment of the Durand Line in 1893, which is now controlled by a large network of mafia groups on both sides of the border. Some of the main items smuggled from Afghanistan into Pakistan are drugs such as opium, hashish, and heroin, as well as lumber, precious stones, copper, automobiles and electronics. The thriving drugs trade in the last decades and the opium production in Afghanistan have taken a toll on Pakistan.^[54] According to a 2001 report, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban government) have been unable to stop the refining and export of heroin stockpiles from its borders. The immediate result has been extensive smuggling of drugs into Pakistan illegally.^[55] Pakistani district police teams have periodically conducted "crackdowns" in Afghan refugee camps on the pretext of identifying outlaws or criminal elements.^[56] 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.^[57]

Terrorism

According to a Pakistani government assessment, more than 90% of terrorist attacks in Pakistan are traced to Afghan refugees camps.^[58][59] Militants from Afghanistan sometimes enter and cross over into Pakistan's bordering regions for shelter. Due to the porous nature of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, it is difficult for local authorities and security agencies to keep a full check on the movement of Afghan militants into the country. American drone attacks in Pakistan often target members of militant groups (i.e. Afghan-led Haqqani network, Hezb-e-Islami, Taliban, al-Qaida, Chechens, and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) hiding in Pakistan's bordering tribal areas, near Afghan refugee camps. Several Afghan refugees have been accused or arrested by Pakistani authorities for being involved in terrorism-related activities inside Pakistan. The 2009 Lahore police academy attacks, which was blamed on Pakistani militant groups (Fedayeen al-Islam and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), involved one Afghan who was given 10 years prison sentence.^[60] In the 2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings, a teenaged Afghan boy (Fida Hussain) from the tribal belt was arrested by police as a suspect.^[61] In 2003, 246 Taliban were arrested inside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. Most of them were Afghan Taliban where they went to get treated after getting wounded during fighting inside Afghanistan.^[62]

When commenting on Taliban activity in Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, remarked that in order to curb illegal immigration and control law and order, Pakistan had stopped issuing visit visas to certain Afghan nationals and increased measures were being implemented to monitor illegal movement of refugees.^[63]

Pakistan has long sheltered Afghan refugees [but they are now acting] against Pakistan. (Afghan) nationals will not be allowed to carry out criminal activities (here). There will be complete restriction on the movement of Afghan refugees in Balochistan and K-P. We have given a one-month deadline to illegal immigrants to get their refugee cards. Otherwise, they will be arrested. Pakistan has also stopped issuing visit visas to Afghan nationals ^[63]

—Rehman Malik, September 2011

Notable people

The following list includes Afghan nationals living in Pakistan as well as Pakistani citizens who are of Afghan origin.

• Aryan Khan, Afghan actor
• Najiba Faiz, Afghan from Kunduz and now a television personality at AVT Khyber
• Fatima Bhutto, Pakistani poet and writer
• Naghma, Afghan singer
• Karim Sadiq, Afghan cricket player

See also

	Afghanistan portal
	Pakistan portal

• Afghan diaspora
• Pakistanis in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan–Pakistan relations

References

External links

• Official website of the UNHCR country operations profile - Pakistan
• UNHCR country operations profile - Afghanistan
• [3]
• Afghan Refugees in Pakistan at Risk

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v t e Afghanistan–Pakistan relations Bilateral relations Ambassadors of Afghanistan Ambassadors of Pakistan History Durrani Empire Delhi Sultanate History of Afghanistan History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Events and conflicts 1995 attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul Afghan War Soviet war in Afghanistan Taliban insurgency Afghanistan–Pakistan Skirmishes Geographic links Durand Line Balochistan region Pashtunistan Social links Baloch people Pashtun people Afghans in Pakistan Pakistanis in Afghanistan Persian and Urdu Related topics AfPak United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan Anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan Afghanistan–India relations Quetta Shura Category:Afghanistan–Pakistan relations