IRIN
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Karachi Afghans reluctant to repatriate
24 March 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

KARACHI, 24 March (IRIN) - For 63-year-old Gul Bibi, returning to her 
homeland couldn't be more natural. Arriving in the southern port city of 
Karachi 20 years earlier, she now hopes to start her life anew with her 
children in Afghanistan's northern Konduz province.

"I believe in God. I believe our future will be brighter in 
Afghanistan," the mother of nine and widow told IRIN outside her simple 
mud-brick home in Jadeed, a multi-ethnic makeshift community of 30,000 
Afghans in the dusty Gadap township of Karachi.

But most Afghans in Pakistan's largest city don't share her optimism. 
"When there is complete stability then I will return," Abdul Manan, a 
95-year-old Pashtun elder, told IRIN outside Jadeed's local mosque, 
citing a lack of jobs and instability as the primary impediments to his 
return.

His peers nodded in agreement. "Most people are not ready to return," 
Haji Ashoor Baig, another long-time Jadeed resident and Uzbek elder 
added. "Right now I don't have any plans to go back. There are no jobs 
for my children. What will we do if we go there?" he asked.

Such sentiment is telling and indicative of what most Afghans in 
Pakistan's bustling former capital are thinking. Those who wanted to 
return have done so, with those remaining still waiting to see what 
happens.

"Most of the Afghans in Karachi today are taking 'a wait-and-see' 
approach towards developments in their homeland," Kazuhiro Kaneko, head 
of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) in Karachi, told IRIN.

Although the vast majority of Afghans in Pakistan today - estimated at 
over 2 million - live in refugee camps, many still live in large urban 
areas of the country, including Karachi.

Earlier government estimates put their numbers in the city at some 
500,000, with UNHCR assisting 250,000 to return following the launch of 
its voluntary repatriation programme in March 2002. However, following a 
UNHCR and government census in February yet to be released, that number 
has been revised downwards.

"There are over 100,000 Afghans in Karachi today,"  Kaneko estimated. 
"Of these, we expect 40,000 to 50,000 will return this year."

Most Afghans in the city, who unlike those living in refugee camps have 
not received UNHCR assistance, work as cheap, unskilled labourers. 
With limited job prospects, they remain concerned over what awaits them 
should they return, underscoring what the UN and others have long 
maintained: for return to be sustainable, further investment in 
Afghanistan's long-term reconstruction and security will be needed.

In short, despite the large numbers that have returned, as well as the 
significant developments that have occurred inside the country, UNHCR 
acknowledges that voluntary repatriation is not yet a viable, durable 
solution for all Afghans in Pakistan.

"Most people want to go, but want for things to improve inside the 
country," Mohammad Dawood, a 25-year-old Afghan student and pharmacy 
worker in Jadeed, told IRIN.

According to UNHCR, since the start of its voluntary repatriation effort 
in March 2002, some 2.2 million Afghans have returned to their homeland. 
Some 384,032 refugees opted to repatriate in 2004 with UNHCR assistance, 
in contrast to the previous year's 343,074.

But while 2002 was marked by an unprecedented number of returns, with 
UNHCR helping nearly 1.6 million Afghans return from Pakistan, the 
guiding principle over the past two years has been gradualism, keeping 
in mind the limited absorption capacity of the country.

In March, some 1,000 Afghans from Karachi may return, Kaneko believed, 
noting he expected 7,000 to 8,000 would return each month in April, May, 
June and July.

"Repatriation is very much dependent on the weather," the seasoned UN 
official explained. "But we are here to facilitate the voluntary 
repatriation of all who wish to do so."

Meanwhile, back in Jadeed, where over one-third of the community's 
population has already left, the debate to return or not continues.

Gul Bibi's son Zulmai tries to share his mother's optimism but worries 
about how they will rebuild their lives and their home. "I heard people 
are paid more in Afghanistan," the 25-year-old carpet weaver, who 
currently earns less than US $50 a month to support his family, told 
IRIN hopefully.

But for 28-year-old Asadullah, another carpet weaver from the northern 
province of Jowzjan, returning to Afghanistan with his two wives seems 
more unlikely than ever. "After 22 years, Pakistan is the only home I 
have ever known.  There is no job for me there," he asserted.


IRIN-Asia
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


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