Focus on plight of Afghan refugees in Karachi

Morghaka, an Afghan refugee, wept as she stood in her mud house on the outskirts of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. She told IRIN how she had been left on her own to support her three children after her husband was jailed more than three months ago. "He was collecting rubbish for recycling. This is the only way we can earn money here and the police took him away for no reason," she cried. The mother of three from the northern Afghan city of Konduz had been living at the Jadeed refugee settlement, 35 km northeast of the centre of Karachi for the past three years. Her husband was detained by the police for not possessing official documents and she was now dependant on others in the community. "We have to beg for food," she said. "We want to go back to Afghanistan. But how can I leave when my husband is in jail?" she asked. Other refugees told similar stories. "My two sons are in jail and for no reason. They too were collecting rubbish and I have not seen them in months," 55-year-old Kabli told IRIN. She only found out that her sons had been taken away after others who escaped from the police went back to the settlement and told them what had happened. There are more than 50 Afghans in Karachi prisons, all allegedly detained for the same reason. "These people were picked up under the foreigners act for not having papers," protection lawyer, Maqbool Inderias, told IRIN in Karachi. Working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office for the release of jailed Afghans, Inderias said he was negotiating with local authorities. "We have asked them to set them free as soon as possible," he said. This type of crackdown on Afghans is not uncommon as Islamabad grows impatient with the estimated 1.5 million refugees remaining in the country. There were about 3 million Afghans in Pakistan, but the routing of the Taliban and the international reconstruction effort has led to half that number returning over the past year. To date, more than 157,000 Afhan refugees have left Karachi, with assistance from UNHCR. "Some are returning through the southern Chaman border and others are going to Torkham in the NWFP [North West Frontier Province]," head of UNHCR, Karachi, Mubashir Ahmad, told IRIN. About half a million Afghan refugees remain in Karachi, according to government statistics. "We think this is a realistic figure, as one of our implementing partners believes this figure is correct," Ahmad maintained. But because they are not in official refugee camps they are not assisted by UNHCR. NGOs help out with water, sanitation and basic health care. There are two voluntary repatriation centres in Karachi, where those wishing to return can register for assistance. However, they are not operational at the moment due to demand. "Many want to wait until the month of Ramzaan is over before they return," he explained. Others wish to wait until spring or until security improves, especially in the north of Afghanistan. "We are negotiating with UNHCR and those who are in jail for anything other than committing crimes will be released," additional home secretary for the Sindh government, Agha Jan Akhtar, told IRIN. He added the cases would be looked at very carefully, emphasising that most did not possess documents. But Akhtar maintained that the Afghans currently in detention were not picked up indiscriminately. "They must have been detained for genuine reasons. It may have been thought that they were linked with Al-Qaeda". He denied that Afghans were being harassed by the police, but he reminded IRIN that the Pakistani government would like to see the back of the huge refugee community. "We would like them to leave but we are in no ways or means forcing them back. It is a voluntary repatriation programme," he said. Be he did emphasise the country's resources were being stretched by the continual presence of over a million Afghans. "Since the security situation has become more volatile in Karachi, Afghans are becoming more prone to harassment," he added, saying that cases were being followed through at the highest level with the home secretary in Sindh. Unlike in other provinces, there are no official refugee camps in Sindh. Instead, refugees in southern Pakistan have built their own settlements such as Jadeed, where some 100,000 Afghans used to reside. However, more than half of those at Jadeed have now returned home and the mud homes they painstakingly built have been destroyed by local authorities. A clear sign, many say, that they would not be welcome if they tried to return. The settlement is home to the largest remaining Afghan refugee community in Sindh and has been turned into a small town with several fresh fruit and vegetable markets, 21 clinics and 42 schools. Water supplies are brought in on a daily basis. The ethnic make up of the settlement includes Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Hazaras and Arabs. For security reasons, a police check post has been set up near the settlement. "The situation in Afghanistan is not completely stable as we have seen over the past year but Afghans are returning to safe areas only. But we know that some are still unsure", Inderias said. UNHCR is currently carrying out a survey to be published in January 2003 to determine how many Afghans are left in the city and whether they intend to return home next year. "We are identifying group and community leaders to help with the repatriation process and to take information from families about whether they will return and why they do and don't want to return," Ahmad said. But he noted one of the main problems they now faced was the fact that the government did not have a department dealing directly with these cases. "The government is to establish an Afghan refugee cell in the home department and this will speed things up because the legal procedure is long but most of the cases are very simple and can be dealt with quickly," he remarked. He explained that although the government was supportive of UNHCR's efforts, there was no focal point for them like in other provincial offices where an Afghan refugees commissioner is present. For the million and a half Afghans left in Pakistan, life is no easy ride as they struggle to survive. "Most of the refugees are unemployed and those who do work are looking for odd jobs on a daily basis for basic survival," he added. Meanwhile, at the Jadeed settlement, families wait patiently for their loved ones to be released. "My family has already gone back to Mazar-e Sharif, but I have to come back to Pakistan to collect my brother who was jailed a few months back. I am not going to leave until he is let out of jail so we can go back to Afghanistan together," Afghan refugee, Akram, told IRIN.