Security ping: Local traders believe Afghans’ expulsion to be complicated

Afghan traders in Cantonment say they have invested million in city’s markets

PESHAWAR: The property owners in Cantonment area have not yet expelled Afghan refugees working as traders or salespersons at markets or residing in houses as tenants. According to the local owners, it is difficult for them to expel the Afghan tenants and workers all of a sudden as they have been into businesses with them since the past many years.

The move was made following a notification issued earlier in May in this regard as law-enforcement agencies feared their stay would be a threat to the lives of locals.

However, a security advisory was issued again by the Cantonment administration on May 25, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune. It stressed the traders unions to cooperate in the case of registration of all the Afghan tenants and workers.

The fourth point of the advisory read all property owners should inform the police about the Afghan refugees who are living in Cantonment area without a proof of registration card, so that police could take action against them. Another point read the Afghan salespersons who only have registration cards and not proof of registration are also going against the law.

The registration card is issued by the police while PoR is given by National Database and Registration Authority.

Difficult to part

The representatives of unions of 44 markets, which fall under the jurisdiction of Cantt, said it would be a hectic job to expel the Afghan traders or salespersons from the markets. The central president of Cantonment traders’ union, Mujeebur Rehman, told The Express Tribune over 80% of the traders in Cantt were Afghans, who were doing businesses in the area for the last 30 years.

Rehman was of the view the registration and expulsion process should be conducted in the presence of the army, so that illegal refugees, doing businesses in the city, could be pointed out. He added they have relations with Afghan traders for the last many decades therefore it would create problems for the Pakistani traders to ask their Afghan counterparts to pack and leave.

The president of another market’s union, requesting anonymity, said some markets’ unions’ presidents were Afghan refugees, therefore the expulsion would be more complicated. “They [the Afghan presidents of markets’ unions] will not cooperate to expel illegal Afghan tenants from Cantonment.”

He said they have handed over registrations forms provided by the Cantt administration to the Afghan traders, but the latter are not interested in providing details of those working in their shops as salespersons.

He added property owners were also not interested in expelling the Afghan tenants as they were making money in the form of rents from them.

Here since long 

Even the Afghan traders are not willing to leave Cantt and move back to Afghanistan as they have invested billions in the city’s markets.

An Afghan trader told The Express Tribune, wishing anonymity due to fear of arrest, they have business of over Rs10 million in Cantt. “It would be a tough task for us to restart our businesses in Afghanistan.”

He suggested business visas should be provided to Afghan traders and their records should be maintained properly so that no one could involve in any sort of crime.

About the issue, United National High Commissioner for Refugees Associate Public Information Officer in Islamabad Dunya Aslam said a meeting was held in 2015 between the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments to figure out solutions for the issue of “undocumented” Afghan refugees in Pakistan. She said that in the meeting Pakistan said it would register all the undocumented Afghan refugees, but the process has yet to be completed.

In that meeting, she said, Pakistan proposed Afghan refugees could stay in Pakistan till December 2017 with the support of UNCHR. “The proposal about the stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan was sent to Pakistan’s federal cabinet for approval, but UNCHR has yet to receive any development in the matter.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2016.