Afghan nationals yet to relocate from Cantonment Board Abbottabad

CBA Vice Chairman says committee will be set up to resolve matter

ABBOTABAD:

Afghan nationals have yet to relocate their businesses and residences from Cantonment Board Abbottabad (CBA) to other areas even though the given deadline has passed.

Officials privy to the development told The Express Tribune on Wednesday a large number of registered and unregistered Afghan nationals have continued to either reside or conduct business in the locality despite a warning issued by the board. On October 2, CBA asked Afghan refugees to wind up their businesses in the area within 30 days. According to the directive, if they failed to vacate their homes and wind up their businesses within the stipulated period, they would be forcibly expelled from the area. The decision was taken due to security reasons and to allow locals a chance to conduct business.



Next course of action

Speaking to The Express Tribune, CBA Vice Chairman Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto said many Afghan nationals had failed to comply.

“CBA will take this matter up within a couple of days to determine our next course of action,” he said. “We will take the district council and tehsil municipal administration onboard and set up a committee to resolve the matter.”

According to Bhutto, they are committed to get Afghan nationals vacate the area.



“The option of forced eviction is also available with us,” he said. “The matter would be decided without further delay as the CBA has given them enough time to vacate the premises.”

Hanging in the balance

In the last two decades, Abbottabad saw a major influx of Afghan nationals who set up successful businesses in the area. Most of them rented residences, but at higher prices. As a result, the rental value of property increased over time.

Afghan nationals have established their businesses in Mandiyan, Supply Bazaar, College Road, Jhugiyan, Nariyan and other areas in the CBA limits. The population of Afghans outnumbers locals in Jhugiyan Bazaar.



In reaction, locals have urged authorities to either send Afghan nationals back to their country or shift them to refugee camps in another location till a final decision is made regarding their repatriation.

Following the Army Public School massacre in Peshawar in December, 2014, a large number of Afghan nationals were rounded up, arrested or sent back as part of national security measures.

At first, the PTI-led government said it would send all Afghans back. However, it was later revealed the diktat only applied to unregistered refugees. Since then, many Afghan nationals, including seminary students, have chosen to leave on their own terms. A large number of Afghan nationals who have lived in the country for several years have also left, though not without
extreme hesitation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.