Afghan refugees feel coerced into repatriation

Eviction notices and increased police harassment of Afghan refugees in recent months have forced many to opt for repatriation to Afghanistan despite security and livelihood concerns, refugees said on Monday. "As we listen to the news of eviction notices served on Afghans in different parts of the country. It is making us scared. Day by day, Pakistani authorities are becoming harder towards us," Abd-ul-Mannan, an Afghan of Turkmen origin, said in the Pakistani city of Attock, some 80 km northeast of the capital Islamabad. "Because of all these circumstances, we are left with no option except to return to Afghanistan - a country with no proper provision of shelter, clean drinking water, sanitation, roads and utilities like electricity and gas," Mannan said. According to a comprehensive census of Afghans in Pakistan carried out earlier this year, about 39,000 Afghans have been living in the district of Attock. Many have been in the area for more than two decades, citing carpet weaving as their main source of income. This relatively prosperous Dari-speaking Afghan community in Attock is extremely reluctant to relocate its established businesses to Afghanistan where immense problems await them, they say. Despite the fear and reluctance to go back to their country of origin, in recent weeks, over 700 Afghan families from Attock have registered with mobile repatriation teams of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) under the agency's voluntary repatriation programme. Over 400 Afghan families have already been processed, while according to UNHCR's mobile repatriation staff, more people are approaching the agency to get help with the journey. Pakistani authorities have announced a series of rolling deadlines in the past four months to close many refugee facilities for Afghans located in areas bordering Afghanistan, citing security concerns. In addition, more than 30,000 Afghans living in informal settlements in the capital have also been asked to leave before 15 September. UNHCR supported Islamabad's decision to close refugee facilities in tribal areas and also vacate Afghan squatter settlements in the capital. But in a press statement on Friday, the refugee agency reminded Islamabad of its commitment to Afghans who were being asked to move to be offered the option of resettlement somewhere else in Pakistan, along with repatriation. "UNHCR supported Islamabad's decision on the commitment that Afghans will be given the option to voluntary repatriate or relocate to an existing camp inside Pakistan," the statement read. In addition, there have been a number of reports of police harassment in recent weeks. Several Afghans were reported to have been arrested for not carrying identity documents. The UN refugee agency said such arrests were contrary to the spirit of the tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR, which governs the presence of Afghans in Pakistan and their voluntary repatriation. In a meeting held last week in the Afghan capital Kabul, all three parties agreed to extend the tripartite accord to December 2006. The agreement had been set to expire in March next year. Over 350,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan under the UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme so far this year, with over 113,000 repatriating in August alone. Since the start of UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme, in 2002, more than 2.6 million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.