Pakistan: Societal treatment of second generation Afghan immigrants in urban centres, particularly in Islamabad; whether it is possible for school-aged children of second generation Afghan immigrants in urban centres, particularly in Islamabad, to speak only Pashto (1996-2001)

Sources consulted by the Research Directorate do not distinguish between refugees and second generation immigrants when referring to the Afghani population in Pakistan.

Reporting on police harassment of Afghan refugees, a May 2002 news article stated that an Afghan refugee just outside of Islamabad who had spent 18 years in Pakistan reportedly said, "'I have no complaint against the [Pakistani] people. They were kind ... But the police were terrible'" (GVNN 14 May 2002).

However, in 2001 and 2002, the United States (US) Department of State reported that Pakistani residents living in urban and semi-urban centres resented the "economic competition" brought to their communities by Afghan refugees living and working there, and "believe[d] that the [Afghan] refugees contribute[d] to high crime rates" (Country Reports 2001 4 Mar. 2002, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 2d). Similar information was reported in 1999 and in 2000 by the US Department of State (Country Reports 1999 23 Feb. 2000, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2000 23 Feb. 2001, Sec. 2d).

The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) corroborated the U.S. Department of State's findings in its World Refugee Survey 2003, by stating the following:

During the late 1990s, as Pakistan's economy worsened and international financial support for the refugees dwindled, the authorities, the media, and the general public increasingly blamed refugees for Peshawar's and other cities' growing social ills, including crime, drug abuse, prostitution, and the widespread availability of weapons. Police harassment of urban refugees increased during this period (2003).

In August 2001, the New Zealand-based Christchurch Press stated that the Pakistani people "have now grown tired" of Afghanis in Pakistan and added that, "[w]ith unemployment high, Afghanis are often blamed for society's ills" (31 Aug. 2001). This view is reportedly encouraged by the police, who, in July 2001 released a report which stated that Islamabad has 100,000 Afghanis, "the majority [of whom are] involved in drug trafficking, gun-running, robbery, begging, and prostitution" (World Reporter 31 Aug. 2001). The report also recommended that all Afghanis be shifted out of Islamabad and confined to one area (ibid.).

In its 2001 report entitled Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Shunned and Scorned, the USCR stated that there are "increasingly negative attitudes towards Afghan refugees among local people and the media" (Sept. 2001, 4). Elaborating further, the report added that

Many Pakistani people, the local media, and, more recently, Pakistani government officials, blame Afghan refugees living in the cities (both those who migrated from the camps and those who never lived in camps) for many of the social and economic woes plaguing Pakistan's cities (USCR Sept. 2001, 19).

The USCR report quotes Muhammad Haroon Shaukat, a director general in the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as complaining that Afghan refugees have "'caused social problems, including an increase in crime, drug addiction and drug trafficking, and illegal trade. Local people say that the Afghans take their jobs and drive up real estate prices'" (Sept. 2001, 19). The Joint Secretary on refugees at the Pakistan Ministry of States and Frotier Regions (SAFRA), Sahibzada Mohammad Khalid, is also quoted as saying that

"Kalashnikovs and automatic weapons were introduced into Pakistan because of the [Afghan] refugees. Drugs were introduced because of them. And, I am extremely sorry to say this, but a great deal of prostitution began. Refugees work for less, so they create unemployment for local people" (USCR Sept. 2001, 19).

In September 1999, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women visited Pakistan and Afghanistan and found that there was a "rise in violence against Afghan women, including domestic violence, honor killings, and trafficking of Afghan refugee women in Pakistan" (HRW 2001). She also noted that

individuals working on the plight of Afghans, including members of Afghan [non-governmental organizations], the majority of which had moved to Pakistan, continued to receive death threats, were subject to harassment, and often lacked protection from local authorities (ibid., 216).

According to the USCR, in late 2000, "Pakistan's tolerance for Afghan refugees [came] to an end" (Sept. 2001, 27) and in June 2001, "many Afghan refugees were 'living in a state of fear'" because "'the police [had] been given carte blanche to arrest and detain people randomly in the street'" (USCR Sept. 2001, 29). For more detailed information on the treatment of Afghans living in Pakistani urban centres, please see the attached excerpt from Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Shunned and Scorned by USCR.

Information on whether it is possible for school-aged children of Afghani immigrants living in Pakistan's urban centres, particularly in Islamabad, to speak only Pashto could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within time constraints; however, in their 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 country reports, the US Department of State indicated that Afghan girls and women in Pakistan, are educated by non-governmental organizations (NGO's) (Country Reports 1999 23 Feb. 2000, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2000 23 Feb. 2001, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2001 4 Mar. 2002, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 2d). In its 2000 and 2001 reports, the US Department of State added that the Pakistan government had "closed some Afghan schools" (Country Reports 2000 23 Feb. 2001, Sec. 2d; Country Reports 2001 4 Mar. 2002, Sec. 2d).

According to the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), "a national alliance of provincial and territorial organizations ... representing more than 240,000 elementary and secondary school teachers across Canada" that engages in international cooperation programme, children of Afghan refugees attend refugee camp schools or urban refugee schools (CTF 2002). The CTF went on to say that

Of the 700,000 Afghan school-aged refugees, 350,000 remain in the refugee camps and 350,000 are urban refugee school children. There are over 700 Afghan primary and secondary urban refugee schools in Pakistan outside the camps.

One type of urban refugee school is the 'self-help' school, which is provided by Afghan refugees themselves (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF). 2002. "'Toonies for Teachers': World Teachers' Day 2002." [Accessed 25 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002. 31 March 2003. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001. 4 March 2002. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000. 23 February 2001. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 23 February 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

Globalvision News Network. 14 May 2002. "Afghan Refugees Complain of Police Harassment." [Accessed 5 Aug. 2003]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 2001. Human Rights Watch World Report 2001. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR). 2003. "Pakistan." World Refugee Survey 2003. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]
_____. September 2001. Hiram A. Ruiz. Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Shunned and Scorned. Edited by Bill Frelick and Margaret Emery. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]

Christchurch Press. 31 August 2001. Mike White. "Taleban Terror Blights Young Eyes." (Dialog)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases
Dialog/WNC

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International
BBC
Dawn
European Country of Origin Information Networks
Freedom House
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
Middle East Times
PakTribune
United Kingdom, Immigration and Nationality Directorate
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Search engine:

Google

Attachment

U.S. Committee for Refugees. September 2001. Hiram A. Ruiz. Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Shunned and Scorned. Edited by Bill Frelick and Margaret Emery. Pp. 27-30. [Accessed 6 Aug. 2003]