Debate over new status for Afghans continues

A refined criteria regarding the future status of Afghans living in Pakistan is now under consideration, a new report by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said. The annual report of the Pakistan chapter of UNHCR, released earlier this month in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, comes after a census conducted in March 2005 revealed entirely different reasons for Afghans wishing to stay in the country than those of a refugee. The first-ever census of Afghans living in the South Asian state recorded the profile of refugees that arrived after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 and stayed on. "The findings of the Afghan census clearly indicate a lack of shelter/land, livelihoods and income generation opportunities as major obstacles to repatriation, which no longer purely fall within a refugee framework," the report said. Instead, "it’s more a phenomenon of economic migration of Afghans seeking livelihood opportunities in Pakistan and there is a need for interventions addressing the challenges of poverty and economic migration," the report added. Pakistan currently hosts over 2.6 million Afghan refugees, deducting the number of this year’s returns under UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation assistance programme from an initial 3.04 million Afghans enumerated through the census. Since the census last year, consultations over future arrangements have been ongoing through a number of forums, including a Tripartite Commission, composed of Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR, as well as separate federal Inter-ministerial taskforce set up by the government. Despite significant returns, Islamabad is concerned over what they regard as a reverse flow of Afghans back into the country, noting the “burden of hosting a large population of Afghans” still remains with Pakistan. According to UNHCR, under the census agreement, it was agreed with the Pakistani government that not all the Afghans covered in the census would be of concern to the UN refugee agency. “Others could fall into categories such as seasonal or migrant labourers for which new management mechanisms will have to be developed,” the annual report said. The report of the UN refugee agency also offered some insight into the development programmes for refugee-affected areas in the two western Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP), both of which border Afghanistan. "The objective is to alleviate poverty through addressing the social, economic and environmental consequences on communities impacted by the Afghan presence and support the improvement of livelihoods, income, social services and living conditions for both Pakistani and Afghan communities in selected areas," the report read. The agency is helping the Pakistani authorities by providing them with technical expertise and supporting their efforts in mobilising funds from donors for these programmes.