IRC concerns on Nasir Bagh evictions

1. The government of Pakistan’s first priority should be to identify and secure alternative accommodations for the large number of Afghans who, inevitably, will remain in Pakistan after the closure of Nasir Bagh. Whether accomplished by screening residents for refugee status or by forcible eviction, closing Nasir Bagh - without first securing adequate housing in another location - will result in the displacement of large numbers of Afghans in Peshawar and surrounding areas. Only after adequate housing is available will the government be able to vacate Nasir Bagh without creating a crisis elsewhere. 2. The survey results indicate that large numbers of Nasir Bagh residents, if deported, will either try to return to Pakistan or become displaced within Afghanistan. Their return to Pakistan (without homes and with fewer resources) will compound tensions on one side of the border, while their displacement inside Afghanistan will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis on the other. These are points which all the parties involved should contemplate carefully. 3. The government of Pakistan and UNHCR should be prepared to find substantial numbers of persons in Nasir Bagh who qualify for refugee status when the proposed screening is conducted. Sixty two percent of the residents indicated an unwillingness to return to Afghanistan, even with humanitarian assistance provided in their home provinces, and 62 percent indicated they would try and return to Pakistan if they were deported. These figures suggest that many Nasir Bagh residents may have well-founded fears of persecution in Afghanistan. 4. UNHCR should carefully review and monitor its current voluntary repatriation programme. Given the growing hostility that has been demonstrated toward Afghans in Pakistan, we believe it is legitimate to ask whether recent repatriations have truly been “voluntary.” Moreover, we encourage UNHCR to consider seriously whether hasty, large-scale repatriations to Afghanistan at this time are, as a matter of policy, desirable given the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis there. 5. UNHCR and the government of Pakistan should conduct a more extensive information campaign within Nasir Bagh to inform families of their operations and the process they will undergo in the upcoming months. Discussion with residents in the final days of the survey revealed that many families did not know basic facts about the closing of the camp, including that a screening to determine refugee status would take place and that a voluntary repatriation programme had already begun.