20th June is associated with international refugee day, every year the world observed this day with the zeal to remember the sacrifices and plights of humans around the globe affected by natural and human-made calamities, who are compelled to take shelter in neighboring states or camps offered to them by the human rights organizations. This day reminds the world that everyone can contribute to society and every action counts in the effort to create a more just, inclusive, and equal world.
In recent years, worldwide refugee crises have taken center stage in the news as they are the most vulnerable people worldwide, and their numbers is on the rise with every day passing. Therefore, it is more important than ever, not just to share the burden but also to appreciate the hosting partners, especially Pakistan while celebrating World Refugee Day.
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How did it all begin?
It is commendable that over the last four decades, Pakistan has hosted several waves of Afghan refugees fleeing from intra and inter-wars. The first wave of Afghan refugees began with the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan in 1979 which resulted in more than 3 million refugees’ arrival in Pakistan. The Soviet withdrawal in the 1990s and the intra-Afghan warlords’ struggle for power resulted in further havoc that subsequently led to the arrival of the Taliban and pulled more refugees to Pakistan. In the aftermath of the US-led force’s invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan witnessed the third wave of Afghan refugees, while the fall of Ghani’s government on 15th August 2021 ensued in the fourth wave.
Despite several socio-economic and security challenges, Pakistan is hosting the second-largest refugee population of almost three million Afghans. According to a recent UN report, Pakistan has approximately 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and 0.8 million Afghan Citizen Card cardholders living in Pakistan. There are also more than a million undocumented refugees living in the country. As of 2020, there are 54 Afghan Refugee Camps operational in Pakistan. Out of which 43 camps are in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa housing nearly 1 million refugees. About 68% of these Afghan refugees in Pakistan live in urban areas while only 32% live in the camps.
However, for the last forty years, the people of Pakistan have been generously hosting Afghan refugees; making this the largest protracted refugee crisis under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Pakistan’s solidarity and compassion for hosting Afghan refugees is a remarkable blueprint that the rest of the world should follow. Refugees mostly do not have a say in their host country and are limited to refugee camps but Pakistan has openly allowed Afghan refugees to settle on its mainland. Pakistan’s steady support to its Afghan refugees spread over four decades exemplifies an unparalleled sense of empathy and compassion for its troubled brotherly state. Peace cannot occur overnight; it is an important goal wherein Pakistan has strived hard to create a more peaceful world by extending a helping hand to its Afghan brethren.
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Therefore, a large number of settled Afghan refugees see Pakistan as their first home. Education for Afghan Refugees is one of the foremost priorities of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR KP). A few significant achievements include 11702 cases of Afghan Refugee (AR) students who were processed for admission in various Professional/Non-Professional colleges & universities. Out of 1689 cases processed for the award of the DAFI scholarship, 1198 AR Students were granted the same.
Provision of Laboratories equipment to 50 AR schools benefiting 11858 students
Provision of Tube wells for clean drinking water in 20 AR schools. Afghan girls and women who are faced with restrictions and limitations in their home country have become success stories living in Pakistan as a refugee. For example, Dr. Silsila Sherzad is a 29-year-old consultant psychiatrist and trauma therapist in Quetta while Najiba Faiz from Kunduz province of Afghanistan is a well-known television channel host and actor.
Hence, Pakistan provided the liberty to registered Afghan refugees to move anywhere in the country, they also have access to health, education in public and private institutions, and employment opportunities throughout Pakistan. Afghan refugees with POR cards can also open bank accounts with any bank in the country. Through Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas Program (RAHA), the special programs are run to enhance the skills of the refugees in various trades in order to enable them to earn better livelihoods for themselves and their families. Recently, the Urban Refugees Support Unit has been established to provide assistance and facilitation to refugees living in urban and semi-urban areas in KP in terms of health, education, employment, protection, and voluntary repatriation.
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In nutshell, Pakistan has provided the world with a global public good supporting Afghan refugees and it is time for the international community should recognize and appreciate Pakistan’s contribution to hosting a large number of Afghans despite its socio-economic strangulation. In addition, the world must come forward to share the burden of refugees with Pakistan and should not abandon the people in dire need. It is time now for the liberal world to awaken its consciousness to rescue the refugees on the humanitarian and normative grounds otherwise there will be no safe harbor for them to avoid the ‘refugee Tsunami’ moving into these countries.
The author is an Islamabad-based analyst and holds MPhil in Peace and Conflict Studies and can be reached at sarahamidkhan21@gmail.com. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.