The participants were of the view that the Afghan refugees should go back to their homeland, but if it was not happening, there should be comprehensive policy as there were possibility that they would become integral part of the country's economy.
Lack of opportunities in their home country should also be kept in view while devising any policy about the future of Afghan refugees. Presenting his findings from a study for the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees in 2006, Dr Mohsin Saeed Khan, independent health consultant, said that 82 percent of refugees were Pashtoons and 70 percent of them wanted to go back.
The study basically explored availability and coverage of health services in the refugee villages and host communities in a bid to carry out need assessment, including technical, administrative and financial implications, Mohsin added. Dr Mohsin, in response to a question, said that arrival of Americans in Afghanistan also spurred the influx of refugees across the Durand Line. He said Pakistan was spending 4.4 dollars per person per day on a refugee.
He further said that study was conducted in 66 districts of NWFP, one of Sindh, 20 of Balochistan and one of Punjab. Similarly, 660 households in NWFP and 183 in Balochistan were also contacted in the study. He further said that a policy review on healthcare for the Afghan refugees was also conducted. Afghan refugees were allowed to repatriate, but the basic social services, like health, water supply, sanitation and education were withdrawn, he added.
Aimal Khan said that any policy formulations should not exclude presence of Afghan refugees, who had integrated in our economy. There should be promulgation of refugee law or Pakistan should sign 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, he demanded. Aimal said that refugee phenomenon should be seen in the political context. It was a deliberate policy of the US and Europe after Soviet entry into Afghanistan to encourage Afghans to become refugees, but after Cold War, the word refugees became unwelcome in Europe and the US as reflected in their immigration policies.
He said that education was also important for refugees, and added that earlier it was one dollar per day per person foreign assistance for education only and now the total assistance was just above two dollars, and Pakistan had to bear most of the brunt. He said that now Kabul was almost under siege and this deterioration of situation in Afghanistan reduced the pace of repatriation.
He said that Pakistan was used as a tool by the capitalist world and now "we have 1.7 million registered refugees and we should raise this issue with all the countries because of whom we are facing this situation." He said now refugees were shifting to urban areas. In hospitals in NWFP, he said one would see more Afghan refugees than Pakistanis. He said that the development was creating new security threat for the country and the policy-makers should see this factor.
He said the refugees had to leave by 2009, but due to prevalent situation, the deadline had to be extended up to 2012. He said negative impact of decline in foreign assistance was quite visible in 1992. Executive Director of a private television channel Hasan Khan said that there were three million unregistered refugees in Pakistan. He said that refugee problem started after 2002 when repatriation started.
He called Afghan Embassy here, the UNHCR, the refugees and Pakistan and Afghan governments as irritants. He said there were no high schools or hospitals in refugee camps and no authority was managing the camps. He said that the Afghan government was totally unaware of returning of Muhajreen in Kabul and there was nobody to receive them.
Many refugees did not register, fearing forced repatriation. He said the refugee card was a useless addition to them. "Any incident leads to the arrest of Afghan refugees and this led to drastic reduction of Afghan refugees going to hospitals," he said. He said the Afghan Embassy meted out insulting treatment to Afghan refugees, and added that the issue of Afghan refugees was a barometer of Pak-Afghan relations.