It is reported that the origins of the attack on the APS have been traced back to Afghanistan — which does not mean that the origins of the attack were traced back to Afghan refugees. The matter has already been taken up with the Afghan government as early as the day after the attack, when the COAS General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul and shared intelligence with his Afghan counterparts and the Afghan government. Both countries appear to be collaborating in the search for those responsible. Whilst the Afghan refugees in K-P have proved to be a considerable drain on the scanty resources of the province over many years, the justification for their return by the K-P minister for information M A Ghani is not entirely convincing. He was of the view that if Afghanistan can hold elections and make a successful transition of power, “then its citizens in Pakistan can also go home”. This flies in the face of the federal government decision to extend the stay of the refugees until next year, and will have provoked deep concern in the various humanitarian agencies that will find this in their laps within the month. Expelling Afghan refugees is going to do little to reduce the terrorist threat. Knee-jerk reactions serve nobody well, and in this case, demonstrate a failure of joined-up thinking at the highest level of provincial governance. What we also need to consider is the practicality of this move. It is doubtful that sending a large number of Afghan refugees back to their country at such short notice will even be possible in practical terms.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2014.
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The December,2014 article regarding Afghan refugees totally neglected the burden our government is carrying for decades.Harboring Afghan refugees is not only a burden on our poor economic conditions rather it also provides the insurgents a safe corner. The history of Afghan refugees is so old that they are now breeding their third generation, and now that they are born here, they will hardly go back to war stricken Afghanistan. Insurgents have a history of using refugees as a cover, so to eliminate, such black sheep, government should apply strict policies on the identification of its people, so that it can become well aware of who is getting in and out of the country. We can adopt the policies being applied by US; they catchup the people when they are in process of making bomb while insurgents in our country carryout the attack and few collaborators simply walk out the whole situation. In this covert war we have to make our internal security tight and make sure that there are no moles living within our population. Our people were often misbehaved in the past at afghan border post, where they tore their passports and clothes, whereas their people roam freely in our country without any identification.
@Umair: Need to work on your English mate. I can't figure out what you are saying. If you feel embarrased in front of illegal migrants you have your own issues to attend to ! Just don't go to Europe because they are seeing hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants smuggling themselves in from Africa, Arab countries and Afghanistan.
@Umair: I could not have come up with a stupider argument even on purpose.
It will be pretty embarrassing for me to face my sister like afghan friend.
How long does Pakistan have to be burdened with Afghan refugees? We have seen KPK being transformed into a run down province after the influx of millions of refugees over the decades. It's time to say enough is enough and to focus on the needs of native people in KPK and across the country. I am sure that crimes such as smuggling, prostitution and violence will decrease when Afghan refugees are sent back to Afghanistan and the border is strengthened.