Peace of mind, safety, security, a thriving atmosphere, freedom, and tolerance – these are the qualities any person, man or woman, young or old want wherever they live. But what if the place where you live is cursed by constant wars, violations, unjustified restrictions, persecutions and exploitation? The automatic response to that is to flee and seek refuge in better places.
This is the plight of the refugees from Afghanistan – some of whom since decades and some quite recently have sought refuge within Pakistani soil – out of fear of their life, honor and dignity. Yet, these same values they intended to protect through seeking refuge seem to be under threat, this time, however, by the Pakistani interim government in its drive to repatriate as many Afghan refugees as possible by October 31.
It is certainly a cause for distress among the Afghans who reside here. Many have invested in businesses that have been thriving for years – a lot of them study in public and private sector universities, a huge number of them are thankful just to be able to live in comparative peace even sans upward social mobility. Historically, Pakistan’s policy in face of the flood of refugees coming from Afghanistan has been comparatively relaxed. It deserves appreciation since there are no other neighbors of Afghanistan whose immigration policies can compete with that of Pakistan, especially in terms of ease for the refugees.
Notwithstanding that, Pakistan has its own geopolitical compulsions coupled with deteriorating security with Afghans alleged to be, to a degree, responsible for it. This perception unfortunately has been responsible for stirring up a lot of hate for the refugees and has also prompted the Pakistani government to send the refugees back to their country.
However, it is to be understood that the sort of collective punishment inflicted upon all Afghans is worthy of criticism. One can argue that not all Afghan nationals participate in terrorism or illegal activities, contrary to common belief the number of Afghans involved in illegal activities is quite lower than perceived and most of them are peaceful and industrious.
Another point to be noted is that the notion of ‘Afghan’ is misleading to an extent. That is, Afghan itself is not an ethnicity and certainly cannot be applied to define all those who have come from Afghanistan. Like Pakistan, Afghanistan too is multi-ethnic, prominent among them being Pashtuns, Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks and one will find Afghans of different ethnicities as refugees in Pakistan. In context of this, one must realize that different ethnic groups have fled Afghanistan for different reasons.
For instance, the most targeted ethnic group, historically and contemporarily have been the Hazaras who were massacred by the Taliban in the early 1990s prompting mass exodus of the people to neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Anticipating another episode of butchery, Hazaras fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in 2021. Out of all ethnic groups the Hazaras are the most vulnerable due to their separate sub-Islamic beliefs that are a shade different from the Taliban who in return are notorious for their lack of tolerance for other beliefs.
The Afghan refugees certainly have strong reasons for their exodus, leaving their properties, businesses and memories behind in order to ensure their survival. Even though Pakistan is not a signatory to the Geneva Convention of 1951, yet as a responsible state the leaders of this country must showcase enough empathy for the refugees especially the most vulnerable segments of them and not force upon them a forced repatriation.
The Taliban in Afghanistan are still trying to make sense of governance, they are yet to understand true statecraft which focuses on both provision of security and the provision of welfare to its people. And most of all they need to realize the multi-ethnic character of the Afghan demography where different ideologies and beliefs exist. The Taliban must yield to plurality and give breathing space to all ethnicities.
With the current status quo in Afghanistan, the indiscriminate repatriation of all Afghans is an unwise policy. There is no guarantee that after the repatriation of the Afghan refugees, the security condition will improve in the region or that the Afghan Taliban would not persecute them further. The government of Pakistan must understand the true motives behind the flow of refugees across the border, which to the keen observer is purely based on socio-economic and security needs.
One of the policy options for Pakistan is to integrate these immigrants into the Pakistani social fabric. It is possible to grant them citizenship granted that they reside here for a chosen period of time without partaking in illegal activities or crimes. But if that is not the chosen policy pathway then the least the government should streamline their presence according to the rules of the government where they have rights and responsibilities comparable to a Pakistani citizen if not at par with it.
A more viable option would be for the Pakistani government to wait for conditions to better in Afghanistan while in the meantime working proactively in assisting the Afghan authorities for achieving the same end; this way, most of the refugees would return voluntarily and a forced repatriation would not be warranted.
Sending the immigrants back to where they came from under the current status quo in Afghanistan nullifies their desperate attempt to secure a comparatively peaceful future and is tantamount to referring the fleeing subjects back to the butcher.
