PAKISTAN: Afghan refugees in Pakistan long for their homes but many fear violence if they return to their homeland

Record ID: 274400

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Afghan refugees in Pakistan long for their homes but many fear violence if they return to their homeland
  • Date: 21st June 2013
  • Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JUNE 20, 2013) (REUTERS) AUDIENCE SEATED AT CULTURAL PROGRAMME BY U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY AND PAKISTAN'S MINISTRY OF STATES AND FRONTIER REGION (SAFRON) UNHCR OFFICER-IN-CHARGE IN PAKISTAN, MAYA AMERATUNGA, SPEAKING ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Legal System,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAC83LH5VMG4YL0M9D3VXZ1JNC7
  • Story Text: As the United Nation marks the 13th annual World Refugee Day on Thursday (June 20), over a million Afghan refugees long for their homes, but many are reluctant to return to their homeland, fearing violence.
    A new report released by the organisation's refugee agency, UNHCR, warns that more people are now refugees or internally displaced than at any other time since 1994.
    Afghanistan remains the world's top producer of refugees, a position it has held for 32 years.
    On average, one out of every four refugees worldwide is Afghan, with 95 percent located in Pakistan or Iran.
    Last year saw little change from 2011 in the rankings of the world's major refugee hosting countries.
    Pakistan continued to host more refugees than any other nation (1.6 million), followed by Iran (868,200) and Germany (589,700).
    The U.N. refugee agency and the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) in Pakistan marked World Refugee Day with a series of events involving the government, the UNHCR, its partners and refugee communities.
    In Pakistan's capital Islamabad, government officials, heads of diplomatic missions and U.N. agencies, U.N. staff and a large number of refugees from different countries attended a colourful cultural event to express solidarity with the refugees.
    Speakers praised Pakistan's long history of hosting the world's largest refugee population.
    The UNHCR's officer-in-charge in Pakistan, Maya Ameratunga, said many Afghan refugees were reluctant to go back to their homeland due to fear of violence.

    "There are many refugees who want to go back. However, some of them feel that security might be a problem or they may have land problems and so on. So, for some of them it is not yet a solution but many are going there," she said.
    Ahmed, an Afghan refugee, said it would be hard to live in Afghanistan after NATO and U.S. troops had left.

    "We don't have any plans to go back to Afghanistan. I want to live here in Pakistan because it is very difficult to live there. Lives are not easy there as troops are going," he said.
    U.S. special forces are expected to play a major role in Afghanistan after most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of next year.
    Hammasa, an Afghan who was born in Pakistan, said she could not go back to her ancestral homeland until she finishes her education.

    "If I finish my university here then I can go back to my country and help my people because they are more needed for helping them," she said.
    Pakistan has officially closed down many refugee camps after it registered the refugees.
    The UNHCR is currently negotiating with the Pakistan government for extending the deadline of June 30 this year for repatriation of these refugees.
    According to reports, after 2002, when volunteer repatriation of Afghan refugees started, around 3.8 million people have gone back to their native towns.
    The Jalozai refugee camp in Nowshera, 35 kilometres southeast of Peshawar, is one of the largest refugee or transit camps in Pakistan, holding Afghan refugees from the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
    The camps briefly received an additional influx of refugees following the U.S.-led invasion in 2011.
    After the fall of the Taliban, the vast majority of refugees in the Jalozai camp returned home or were relocated elsewhere.
    The camp is home to people who have fled violence in ethnic Pashtun areas along the border with Afghanistan where al Qaeda and Taliban militants operate.
    The UNHCR's annual Global Trends report covers displacement that occurred during 2012 based on data from governments, NGO partners, and the UNHCR itself. The report stated that, as of the end of 2012, more than 45.2 million people were displaced compared to 42.5 million at the end of 2011.
    This includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers, and 28.8 million people forced to flee within the borders of their own countries.
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