Saying Good-Bye to Afghan Refugees
Every war results into destruction of the region in all spheres of life. Pakistan has witnessed two prolonged wars on its western border and a persistent threat on its eastern border. National interest, security of the country and well being of its own people are founding stone for foreign policy formulation of any country. Pakistan has been hosting for more than forty years to almost a three million Afghan refugees and this number rose to five million after US invasion of Afghanistan, which has changed whole land scape of Pakistan’s security, economy and society in a bad wary. Pakistan is justified to negotiate the reasons which destabilizes it’s security concern.
Refugees provide a big leverage to hostile states of the host country for their help in terrorism and crime related to security issues. It has been witnessed that in most of the terrorism incidents, Afghan refugees are involved directly or indirectly thus raising serious concerns for Pakistan.
Hamid Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah, Zalmay Khalil Zad Amarullah Saleh, have been playing on Indian behest to promote anti-Pakistan narrative using local sympathizers. The Pakistan is sandwiched between India and Afghanistan both having deep nexus against Pakistan on many fronts including cyber war. Tolo News and Indian ANI, news agency had deep nexus. Pakistan has been victim of this inter-media collaboration for many decades.
Russian-Afghanistan war introduced gun and drug culture which continues till date. According to a UN report, 7.6 million people are drug addict in Pakistan and this culture is after shock of Russia-Afghanistan war and war against terrorism. Number of addicts is increasing in Pakistan at the rate of forty thousand peoples every year. Yet again after twenty years of war in Afghanistan, US has departed leaving behind twenty million Afghan citizens inside Afghanista and Afghan refugees on Iran and Pakistan’s soil. Afghan refugees are serious security concerns for Pakistan. The economic and socio-political impacts created by Afghan refugees have resulted into unemployment, anger, prejudices and xenophobia among locals, which is leading society towards conflict. They are cause of many diseases such as poliomyelitis, malaria, etc. and have also created environmental problems by over exploitation of natural resources, land erosion, deforestation, hunting and foraging. Afghan refugees in KP and Balochistan have seriously impacted local markets promoting a rift between refugees and local citizens over resources, water, land, food and property. With the passage of time , refugees demand on resources, education, energy, transportation and employment had further created a gap giving rise to anger among locals. Three major cities of Pakistan Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar are witnessing a turf war among Afghan refugees and local traders.
