Long-term Afghan refugees yearn for peace

The Afghan conflict, in its various guises, looks set to enter its 23rd year. Although experts predict that the US-led action against the Taliban and Arab elements inside the country could eventually pave the way for peace in the country, Afghan refugees who settled years ago in Pakistani cities expressed dismay at the ongoing chaos in their homeland.

Living in a camp on the outskirts of Karachi, Abdul Ghafur, 50, left his home in the northwestern province of Baghlan about seven years ago. He told IRIN that he did not care who was right or who was wrong. "We just want an end to the war so that we can go home as soon as possible," he said, echoing the views of many of the 25,000 refugees at Mohajir camp, a motley collection of mud huts 15 km east of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

It is estimated that as many as 200,000 Afghans live in the vicinity of Karachi, often in makeshift mud huts. The wealthier have managed to integrate most readily into the local communities, in some cases even securing Pakistani nationality. According to city residents, many other Afghan refugees work as labourers, help out at motor vehicle repair workshops, beg at traffic lights, or can be found scavenging around the city's garbage heaps.

The refugees in Mohajir camp, which was created in 1987 at the time of the Soviet war, maintained that they were moderate Muslims, devoid of any extremism. Many told IRIN that the warlords should put their differences aside and restore peace to Afghanistan. Most said they aspired to return home one day. A welder, Mohammad Shoaib, 31, who also left Baghlan Province seven years ago, said Afghans had been the victims of war for more than two decades. "Our support goes to whoever it may be - the US, Northern Alliance or the Taliban - who can ensure peace," he said.

Some wealthier Afghans say they would be willing to go home once there was peace. Haji Mohammad Sadiq, a Karachi restaurant owner who left Afghanistan 17 years ago, was exasperated with the endless conflict. "We need peace, we want to live in tranquillity, we want to go back to our homeland," he said, asserting that all those who continued fighting were no more than terrorists themselves. Sadiq said the entire country had been put at stake for an individual, referring to the Taliban’s war against the US to protect Osama bin Laden.

"I have an expanding business of over 2.5 million rupees [US $42,000] here. The day the war is over, I would rather return to Afghanistan, even if I end up a beggar there," he added.

Meanwhile, Afghans in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, also expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in their country, particularly with the arrival of winter. Rahila Hashim 37, a senior social development adviser with the UN, told IRIN that peace did not merely mean an end to the fighting. "It has to be something that reduces the suffering that has been endured over the last 23 years. Peace means that you have an administrative system [in place] and you can provide jobs for people," she said.

Television images of civilian casualties apparently resulting from the US-led military strikes have been met with dismay by Afghans in Pakistan, most of whom have relatives in their home country.

Mohammad Ibrahim, a restaurateur in Islamabad, told IRIN that Afghans traditionally always condemn military action by foreigners. So far, he believed the action had appeared to be taking a high toll on ordinary Afghans, while leaving those it was targeting still at large. However, his main concern was over the mounting difficulties people would face with the combination of an approaching winter, ongoing war, acute food shortage, a lack of medicine, and the prolonged drought.

An Afghan shop owner in Islamabad told IRIN that the former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, was the only person who could restore peace by convening of a Loya Jirgah, supreme national tribal assembly. "Afghans want to remain united. We have always been optimistic about our future, and we look forward to returning as soon as there is peace," he said.