Tick tock: Deadline for Afghan refugees to vacate houses expires

District administration warns homeowners of legal action if tenants not vacated .

HARIPUR:

The already uncertain future of Afghan refugees became a bit bleaker as a deadline issued to landowners in Haripur to evict them from houses expired on Sunday. In the wake of the Army Public School massacre in Peshawar, the provincial government has launched a push against Afghan refugees living in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, even as the centre says only unregistered Afghans will be expelled from the country.

The Haripur district administration said criminal cases would be filed against landowners who failed to comply with the orders.

“They were given three days to get their houses vacated by Afghan nationals. The deadline expires today,” Khalabat Township SHO Munir Khan said on Sunday.



He said the district administration, by imposing Section 144, barred all Afghan refugees from living in the city and ordered them to move to designated camps within three days. Khan said announcements to this effect were made on mosque loudspeakers and published in newspapers on Friday. Afghan nationals were ordered to shift to camps otherwise legal action would be taken against landlords as well as the tenants.

Making ends meet

City SHO Sabir Khan confirmed Afghan refugees living in rented houses within his jurisdiction had been warned of the consequences if they failed to shift to camps by Sunday. The SHO said police would start a search operation and register cases against violators.

Following the provincial government’s instructions, the district administration decided to restrict Afghan refugees to camp areas from 8pm to 8am the next day. However, Sabir clarified Afghan nationals were allowed to earn a living and go about their business during the day till further orders. He added they must be back in the camps before 8pm every evening.

Last-ditch efforts

Meanwhile, Afghan refugees protested against the government’s decision on Sunday by gathering at Chaman Park.



They said the three-day deadline was insufficient as hundreds of Afghan families had been living in rented houses for years. The participants said some even established their businesses and relocating to camps without proper facilities would expose them to a variety of problems.

The refugees said their children were studying in different schools and were not accustomed to living in such conditions. The protesters asked the administration to review its decision or at least extend the deadline to allow them to settle with their families in the designated areas.

They also met the Haripur deputy commissioner, apart from Former provincial minister Yousuf Ayub Khan, to ask for the deadline to be extended. Naseem Khan, Arif Shah, Haji Shinwari Khan, Haji Muhammad Jan and Fazale Rabi addressed the protesters

The numbers

Official sources in Haripur said there were 22,012 registered families with 126,336 individuals in Haripur alone. At least 26,00 families and 15,000 individuals were using the resources of the district without being registered.

Over 100,000 Afghan nationals have been living in Panian and Padhana Afghan camps for years, while more than 26,000 are residing in rented houses across the district, said sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2014.