{"id":13412,"date":"2015-04-23T17:34:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T12:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zameen.com\/blog\/?p=13412"},"modified":"2017-12-11T12:31:01","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T07:31:01","slug":"losing-more-than-just-property-the-dilemma-of-afghan-refugees-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/losing-more-than-just-property-the-dilemma-of-afghan-refugees-in-pakistan.html","title":{"rendered":"Losing more than just property \u2013 the dilemma of Afghan refugees in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AFGHN-12181bfinal\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s changing policy towards Afghan refugees has raised concerns among some 1.7 million of them currently residing in the country. Most of these refugees fled their homes several decades ago during and after the Soviet-Afghan war and chose to settle in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and, in some cases, Karachi.<\/p>\n

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province whose larger cultural heritage closely resembles that of the Afghan tribes living on the other side of the Durand Line, offered them the peace of home, and they responded by forming long-lasting relationships and assimilating with the locals.<\/p>\n

The bond between the Afghan refugees and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is deep-rooted and complex, and while repatriation is easy to talk about, we often fail to realise we\u2019re talking about sending millions of people back to a place they haven\u2019t called home in over 30 years. A generation of them haven\u2019t even seen it, having been born on Pakistani soil.<\/p>\n

Despite the extraordinary duration of their stay in Pakistan, most of these Afghans have spent their time here struggling to make ends meet. They have done some serious labour work, sold stuff from carts, spent hours collecting garbage on the streets and selling it for their families\u2019 bread and butter, and many other similar tasks. But the more established Afghan families have established businesses in Pakistan, and some of them even own expensive property.<\/p>\n

However, given recent developments on the security front, especially the brutal attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, law enforcement agencies have deduced that some of the Afghans settled in the country are not innocent refugees but facilitators of groups behind such hideous attacks. Many Afghan families have been interrogated and undocumented Afghan refugees have been asked to leave the country, causing a sudden rise in the number of people who are fleeing to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Those living in makeshift homes and living below the poverty line while maintaining their Afghan identity had little trouble deciding to head back to Afghanistan, but for those who have spent decades building a new life here and chose to apply for Pakistani nationality, there are some major reservations with leaving just like that.<\/p>\n

Some of these Afghan refugees possess Pakistani CNICs issued to them by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) following the necessary legal procedures. Since this effectively made them Pakistani citizens, they proceeded to invest in property \u2013 either directly or in the name of Pakistani relatives. Those who did so directly, i.e. in their own names, might now be facing some serious problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government of Pakistan has announced that by the end of 2015, the NADRA-issued ID cards of Afghan refugees will be revoked,\u201d Peshawar-based Al Saud Property\u2019s CEO Mr Ali Khan Bangash told Zameen.com recently. He said the fear of losing ownership of their property in Peshawar after their ID cards are cancelled has led these Afghanis to sell their property quickly. However, buyers are few and most are hesitant to purchase property that could potentially have any sort of connection \u2013 however remote \u2013 with any groups involved in nefarious activities.<\/p>\n

A general air of insecurity in Peshawar since the APS attack, coupled with rising insecurities among Afghan property-owners in Peshawar, has caused the city\u2019s property market to bottom out. \u201cA general drop in the value of property and a particular devaluation of Afghan-owned property is afoot in Peshawar at the moment. Their rising insecurity and rush to sell property has caused a price drop of nearly 30% in some of the most expensive localities in the city,\u201d said Mr Bangash, who expects prices of Afghan-owned property to drop by another 50% by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Islamia Property CEO Mr Mazhar Wakeel Durani, however, believes that the situation is not as dire as it sounds, since these refugees have been living in Pakistan for decades and the ID cards they possess have been issued to them by NADRA, making them recognised citizens of Pakistan. \u201cThe Government of Pakistan will likely find less stern ways to deal with the Afghan refugees and not trouble the ones who very much consider themselves to be citizens of Pakistan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Makkah Property Dealer and Builders CEO Mr Kashif Khan had similar views on the matter. \u201cThe last date for cancellation of their (Afghans\u2019) ID cards will likely be extended, and meanwhile the two countries\u2019 authorities concerned will sit down to find a way to help these people while keeping Pakistan\u2019s concerns in mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For most of their recent history, Afghans have faced hardships that have often bordered on atrocity, but Pakistan\u2019s brotherly attitude towards these refugees has also been acknowledged worldwide. Our country should not allow all that goodwill to go down the drain. Let\u2019s hope that ends up being the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan\u2019s changing policy towards Afghan refugees has raised concerns among some 1.7 million of them currently residing in the country. Most of these refugees fled their homes several decades ago during and after the Soviet-Afghan war and chose to settle in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and, in some cases, Karachi. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province whose larger cultural heritage closely resembles that of the Afghan tribes living on the other side of the Durand Line, offered them the peace of home, and they responded by forming long-lasting relationships and assimilating with the locals. The bond between the Afghan refugees and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is deep-rooted and complex, and while repatriation is easy to talk about, we often fail to realise we\u2019re talking about sending millions of people back to a place they haven\u2019t called home in over 30 years. A generation of them haven\u2019t even seen it, having been born on Pakistani soil. Despite the extraordinary duration of their stay in Pakistan, most of these Afghans have spent their time here struggling to make ends meet. They have done some serious labour work, sold stuff from carts, spent hours collecting garbage on the streets and selling it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":13413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1461,1460,1459,622,1462],"persona":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-afghan-cnic-issues","8":"tag-afghan-refugees","9":"tag-peshawar-property","10":"tag-peshawar-real-estate","11":"tag-property-owned-by-afghans-in-peshawar"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLosing more than just property \u2013 the dilemma of Afghan refugees in Pakistan - Zameen News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pakistan\u2019s changing policy towards Afghan refugees has raised concerns among some 1.7 million of them currently residing in the country. 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