UNHCR Pakistan: Solving the Afghan refugee problem

After years of caring for millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, repeatedly dashed hopes that all could return home and the start of mass repatriation in 2002, the UN Refugee Agency hopes that an end to this decades-old problem may be emerging.

Under a Tripartite Agreement signed in 2003 between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR would assist until 2005 the repatriation of refugees who want to return. The agreement was extended to March 2006, then December 2006, but the ultimate goal is to find a final, durable solution to this human tragedy that began a quarter century ago.

UNHCR is involved in many activities in Pakistan, running one of its most complex operations in the world. . In most countries UNHCR provides emergency assistance to newly arriving refugees or maintains refugee camps for extended periods of time or assists refugees to repatriate or helps refugees to be resettled to third countries. In Pakistan it provides all four types of aid at the same time. As well as repatriating Afghans wishing to go home, it cares for some one million Afghans refugees living in the refugee camps of Pakistan. It also deals with other nationalities seeking the protection of refugee status, seeks to resettle those for whom return to their homeland or local integration is impossible and works extensively to explain the needs of refugees. UNHCR's education assistance extends beyond working with the government to improve legislation, to providing instruction to officials and the public on the rights of refugees. The agency does extensive work to educate the public and government officials on the needs of refugees and Pakistan's obligations.

But for most people in the world, the role of the UN Refugee Agency is synonymous with the Afghan refugees who have formed one of the world's most protracted humanitarian problems. This remains the most prominent activity, even after UNHCR assisted over 2.7 million Afghans to return home from Pakistan between 2002 and 2005. The 1.5 million who repatriated in 2002 were the largest number of returning refugees anywhere in the world since 1972.

While repatriation assistance remains UNHCR's dominating activity, it is already focused on what must follow. The expansion of development and security throughout Afghanistan will be crucial to drawing refugees home. But with about 1 million Afghans still living in refugee camps after four years of assisted repatriation, it is clear that large numbers of refugees will not return during the current repatriation programme. Many refugees, especially those living in refugee camps rather than the poverty of the cities, have shown little desire to go back to Afghanistan.

The discussion about what will happen to those left, both in the camps and the cities, is currently underway with the government. UNHCR seeks one of three solutions for refugees - repatriation, local integration or resettlement in a third country.

UNHCR's Main Objectives in Pakistan

" Assist the vast number of Afghans who have voluntarily decided to return home. Although the rate of return slowed in 2002, as expected, the repatriation remains one of the greatest ever seen by UNHCR, with some 450,000 Afghans returning in 2005.

"  Provide protection and assistance to Afghan refugees in their camps and settlements in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation. Vulnerable cases such as women heads of households or disabled persons are given special attention.

" Identify solutions for non-Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Depending on their individual situation they are either assisted within Pakistan or repatriated or proposed for resettlement.

" Resettle in a third country a limited number of Afghan refugees for whom neither staying in Pakistan nor returning to their homeland is a safe option, such as women at risk or security cases. The number of refugees UNHCR resettles from Pakistan remains among the highest of any country, despite the obstacles created by much more stringent security checks since the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The history of UNHCR in Pakistan has been closely related to the Afghan refugees in the country. The first office in Pakistan was established in 1980 to assist and protect a large number of Afghans fleeing their country in the wake of the 1979 Soviet invasion.

Since then, the Afghans have been by far the largest group assisted by UNHCR in Pakistan. Only in recent years have asylum seekers from other countries started arriving in Pakistan.

A Long Record of Asylum

For more than two decades Pakistan hosted the largest single refugee population in the world. Slightly over 1 million refugees remained in refugee camps  and more than 1.5 million in urban areas at the start of 2006.

Afghan refugees in Pakistan are not a homogeneous group. They fled to Pakistan in several waves starting with the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979. They came from different parts of Afghanistan and have various ethnic backgrounds. The last refugee wave - nearly 300,000 Afghans -- reached Pakistan after the attacks of 11 September 2001.

Conditions for Afghan refugees in Pakistan differ greatly. Some live in mud house settlements that look like the villages they left behind. In urban areas, few Afghan refugees are fully integrated and well-off. The majority of urban refugees are in slum areas of Pakistan's major cities, barely surviving on casual labour. Understandably, the unprecedented rush of Afghans seeking to return to their country in 2002 came first and foremost from the urban areas. This continues to be the case, with 54% of 2005's returnees leaving from Pakistan's cities

Largest Repatriation in Three Decades

The repatriation movement that followed the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001 was spontaneous and overwhelming. In order to assist the returnees, UNHCR launched its repatriation operation on 1 March 2002. The number seeking to go home outstripped all predictions. The flow, though at a reduced level, continued through 2003 when more than 340,000 individuals went home.
Over 380,000 followed in 2004, and some 450,000 in 2006. Returning families are entitled to a grant covering their travel expenses and cash assistance for reintegration upon their return in Afghanistan.

UNHCR verifies those seeking assistance intend to settle back in their homeland. While the vast majority of those seeking to return are sincere, there were some - especially during 2003 -- who attempted to receive assistance a second time.
In October 2002 iris recognition technology was introduced. Since it recognises anyone who has already been checked, it is a foolproof guarantee that assistance is not given to the same person twice.

The flood of Afghan refugees from Pakistan was the largest and swiftest return movement since the creation of Bangladesh in 1972, and entering its fifth year remains among the highest repatriation numbers for UNHCR.

Helping Refugee Women Help Themselves

While UNHCR assists all refugees in need of protection, vulnerable cases have always been of special concern to the agency. Many Afghan refugee women are confronted with a very conservative environment where their freedom of movement and action is severely restricted.

Afghan refugee women face gender-related protection problems, including gender based violence, forced marriages and denial of their rights to education or employment.

UNHCR uses a community-based approach to address them. Changes are not imposed but rather are initiated by the women themselves. UNHCR promotes women committees in refugee camps to address gender-based problems.

The agency funds training programmes for female Afghan health workers and animators and supports  vocational training courses for women in some camps.

Non-Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Although Afghans are by far the largest group of concern to UNHCR in Pakistan, there are also more than 480 non-Afghans accepted as refugees and living in Pakistan, and over 660 non-Afghans seeking asylum. These refugees are mainly Somalis, Iraqis and Iranians. Most live in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Nearly half of those refugees consist of single female-headed households with children.

Under an agreement with the Government in 2003, non-Afghan refugees recognised by UNHCR at the time were given permission to work.

In addition, UNHCR assists some destitute refugees with a basic subsistence allowance, educational assistance and medical care.

Most of the non-Afghan refugees wish to be resettled in third countries. For some this is impossible as they have been rejected by several resettlement countries. In those cases, UNHCR tries to organise voluntary repatriation where viable. The remainder have no option but to stay in Pakistan.