Refugees returning

Interviews with Afghan refugees suggest that the recent crackdown has compelled many of them to return to their home country, despite the harsh cold weather and security issues.
They said police were arresting dozens of refugees in different areas in Karachi every day and registering cases against only a few of them under the Foreign Registration Act (FRA). The rest were released after taking bribes ranging between Rs10,000 and Rs50,000.
Sohrab claimed that he had released around 200 refugees on bail in recent weeks.
Afghan refugees said after every major terrorist attack, the law enforcement agencies targeted the community, despite the fact that their involvement was not proved.
“The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a Pakistani militant group, claimed the responsibility of the Peshawar attack and also issued photos of the attackers, who were Pakistani, but police have still been targeting us,” said Ahmed, a charged young Afghan refugee.
Ahmed is also thinking of leaving Pakistan now. “A number of Afghan refugees have recently gone back to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham borders because of recent crackdown,” he said.
However, police officials, denying the allegations, said they were only arresting illegal refugees.
“If refugees don’t have PoR cards, that means that they are illegal and we are only arresting them,” said an officer at the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station requesting anonymity.
“The refugees’ leaders are baselessly alleging that police are harassing the refugees with PoR cards or freeing them after taking bribes,” he added.
A recent visit to a makeshift Afghan refugee camp in Karachi made clear that Pakistani authorities have sent a large number of legal and illegal Afghan refugees back to their native land.
With the assistance of the Afghan consulate, Sohrab released 26 Afghan refugees from a prison in Sukkur District in January and handed them over to Afghan authorities at the Chaman border in Balochistan.
Sohrab said the refugees were arrested in Sukkur while travelling to Karachi. “Some of them were coming to Karachi for medical treatment and others were living in the city for the past two decades,” he said.
“In many cases, police tear up the PoR cards and register cases against the refugees under the FRA.”
Janan Mosazai, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, in his visit to Karachi in January, said his country, Pakistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had agreed on a voluntary, dignified and gradual return of refugees from Pakistan.
“To bring back all refugees from Pakistan is key priority of the Afghan government. For this purpose, our government is improving environment to persuade them to return,” Mosazai said.
He added that the Sindh chief minister had assured him in a meeting that the provincial government would treat Afghan refugees in a dignified way.