Policy shifts and the state of limbo

Harassment of Afghan nationals has become the order of the day

PESHAWAR: Tensions that have erupted with forced repatriation and deportation of Afghan nationals from various parts of the country, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, continue to leave a deep imprint. A large number of Afghan nationals are unhappy about being uprooted from their homes and the move has also adversely affected local markets.

However, there are visible divisions in the reaction of officials in K-P. The elders of Afghan nationals, who have constituted a 10-member commission to resolve the problem of forced repatriation and deportation, held a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan in Bani Gala, Islamabad on August 11.

During the moot, Imran denounced forced deportation, repatriation and arrest of Afghan nationals. He said such degrees of harassment would not be tolerated. The PTI chief vowed to speak to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and IGP Nasir Durrani about the matter.

However, the problem persists and has gradually become the order of the day.



Minutes after the meeting, news of crackdowns against Afghan nationals in Hayatabad and other localities flew thick and fast. Many of them have been arrested and produced before courts. Even in Gulberg, a large number of Afghan nationals have been compelled to spend sleepless nights in open fields near their houses. An elderly woman was forced to plead with her neighbours to provide her family shelter as they feared a raid on their house.

Soon after Imran’s meeting with the Afghan elders, Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid, in his reactionary remarks said, “Pervez Khattak is in a hurry to expel Afghan nationals.” He said Imran needs to rectify records as harassment of Afghan nationals is taking place in K-P.

Similarly, two other PTI coalition partners — QWP and JI — have already denounced the harassment of Afghans.

Deemed harmful

Critics of the surprising shifts in policy regarding Afghan nationals have considered the move harmful to the country’s interests. In his recent conversations, Dr Ghairat Baheer, who is among the top leaders of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, recalled the huge investment made in Afghanistan by Pakistanis.

Pakistan had not only welcomed Afghans at a critical juncture but Pakistanis also shared all their resources, infrastructure, economy and even livelihood sources with the crisis-hit Afghans. For this, Baheer said, Afghan nationals have always appreciated and thanked their Pakistani brethren. However, he believes the presence of an “anti-Pakistan lobby in Afghanistan” exploited the recent shift in Afghan policies.

Need to ponder

Soon after the emergence of Taliban in October 1994, some of the warring factions, especially Hizb-e-Islami of Hekmatyar and JI Professor Rabbani, joined hands. All rival Afghans who engaged in ideological hostilities soon after the 9/11 tragedy have also joined hands over the issue of terrorism. In the last four decades, a large number of Afghan nationals — who had entered into family and communal feuds —have shunned their disputes. They have jointly requested Pakistan to review its recent shift in policies pertaining to refugees.

Not only politicians but even academics, technocrats and economists believe the forced expulsion of Afghans is harmful to the interests of the country.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2016.