Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
April 16, 2008
Pg. 9
Officials Cite Extremism, Economics as Reasons for Closure of Camp in Northwest
By Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post Foreign Service
JALOZAI, Pakistan, April 15 -- About the only thing Aziz ur-Rehman remembers about his life in Afghanistan is his month-long walk through the mountains to Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion.
He was 5 years old then -- too young to remember much about the events that drove his family out of Afghanistan. Most of his memories were born here among the sprawling mass of mud-brick homes, tin-roofed shops and rutted dirt roads that make up the oldest Afghan refugee settlement in Pakistan. And when the Pakistani government closes the camp this week, most of his memories will be buried here.
Three decades after thousands of Afghan refugees fled to this U.N.-backed settlement in northwestern Pakistan, the Pakistani government has begun to demolish homes and other buildings here. Citing concerns about extremist influences in Jalozai and the economic burden of hosting 80,000 refugees, officials set a Tuesday deadline for closing the camp, located about 20 miles southwest of the city of Peshawar.
Pakistan had pressed for an earlier closure but was persuaded to wait until after the winter by U.N. officials, the Afghan government and tribal elders.
Still, years after fleeing Afghanistan, many refugees like ur-Rehman are far from eager to return to a war-torn country they have never really known. "Life is better here in Pakistan. There is peace here, and I have my own life," ur-Rehman said.
Jalozai is one of more than 80 refugee encampments remaining in the country that are slated to close by the end of next year. So far, about 3,800 residents have left Jalozai for Afghanistan, according to U.N. officials.
More than 2 million registered Afghan refugees are settled in camps that stretch across parts of Pakistan's northwestern frontier and tribal areas. Although an estimated 3 million Afghans have returned home since 2002, the continued presence of millions of others in places such as Jalozai has become a thorny issue for Pakistan since the start of U.S.-led counterterrorism operations in the region.
A major U.S. ally, Pakistan has struggled for years to quell the rising influence of Taliban fighters inside Afghan refugee settlements.
A Western diplomat in Pakistan familiar with the camps said that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former U.S. ally with ties to the Taliban, has long held sway over extremists in the camp at Jalozai and in Shamshatoo, another Afghan settlement near Peshawar, making the camps a refuge for Taliban fighters. "They provide the perfect location for disappearing and recruiting, which is why we have been pushing for closure of these camps. You don't want to create a humanitarian crisis, but the security there is an issue," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More village than camp, Jalozai has a thriving economy built primarily on the transportation of goods and services across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. Homes are modest but have provided shelter for at least two generations of largely ethnic Pashtuns with Afghan roots. With fighting still underway in Afghanistan, many in the camp are fearful of what they will find on the other side of the border.
"I don't want to go back. In Afghanistan, the situation is clear," ur-Rehman said. "Every day there are bombings there, or suicide attacks. You never know where the attack is coming from."
Many Jalozai refugees have roots in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, where the fighting has been especially heavy in recent years. More than half, however, were born in Pakistan. Three-quarters of the camp population is younger than 28, according to Pakistan's commission on Afghan refugees. Few have firsthand knowledge of life in Afghanistan.
Zalmay Rasul, Afghanistan's national security adviser, said in an interview in Kabul last week that the government there is working to ensure a smooth return of Afghan refugees. Repatriation efforts have been complicated, however, because many Afghans are returning to conflict areas. "The return of refugees has already happened, and we are ready to accept those refugees who are coming," Rasul said. "We need to have at least a humanitarian infrastructure in place, however, to receive them."
According to U.N. and Pakistani government officials, the number of Afghan refugees who have returned to their country since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan in late 2001 has slowed, while international aid for refugees has dropped precipitously in the wake of the fighting. About 1.6 million refugees left the camps for Afghanistan in 2002 compared with 133,000 in 2006, according to U.N. data.
Meanwhile, aid donated by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has decreased from $28.9 million in 2001 to $9.3 million in 2007, a drop of 68 percent, a Pakistani government official said. "This is a very troubling aspect for us -- that the world and the donors are losing interest in the refugee problem. There is donor fatigue in the international community, yet they are asking us to do more and more," said Abdul Rauf Khan, the outgoing chief commissioner for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
As Pakistan rushes to close the settlements, refugees are left with scant economic resources, according to Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the U.N. commissioner's office in Pakistan. "This is a forgotten humanitarian crisis, yet the refugees are a major player in stabilizing the region," Tan said. "If you push them out in one go, then you destabilize the region. If you get them to go gradually, then there can be peace and stability."
Refugees who agree to return to Afghanistan receive about $100 each from the U.N. refugee agency to aid in the journey home. But with food, energy and lodging prices on the rise on both sides of the border, the money barely pays for transportation, several refugees at the camp said.
Abdullah, a bookseller at Jalozai, was an infant when his family moved to the settlement in the late 1980s. "Our whole extended family has been living here, and this camp is now like our ancestral village. We have seen the ups and downs of life here, with marriages and deaths in the family," said Abdullah, who like many ethnic Pashtuns uses only one name.
His family has been looking for a new home in Peshawar or its suburbs but has not found anything affordable. Government workers have already bulldozed the bookstore that he, his wife and four children relied on for income.
"My shop is demolished, but my home is still there," Abdullah said. "I will be the last person to leave this place."
Special correspondent Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar contributed to this report.
April 16, 2008
Pg. 9
Officials Cite Extremism, Economics as Reasons for Closure of Camp in Northwest
By Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post Foreign Service
JALOZAI, Pakistan, April 15 -- About the only thing Aziz ur-Rehman remembers about his life in Afghanistan is his month-long walk through the mountains to Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion.
He was 5 years old then -- too young to remember much about the events that drove his family out of Afghanistan. Most of his memories were born here among the sprawling mass of mud-brick homes, tin-roofed shops and rutted dirt roads that make up the oldest Afghan refugee settlement in Pakistan. And when the Pakistani government closes the camp this week, most of his memories will be buried here.
Three decades after thousands of Afghan refugees fled to this U.N.-backed settlement in northwestern Pakistan, the Pakistani government has begun to demolish homes and other buildings here. Citing concerns about extremist influences in Jalozai and the economic burden of hosting 80,000 refugees, officials set a Tuesday deadline for closing the camp, located about 20 miles southwest of the city of Peshawar.
Pakistan had pressed for an earlier closure but was persuaded to wait until after the winter by U.N. officials, the Afghan government and tribal elders.
Still, years after fleeing Afghanistan, many refugees like ur-Rehman are far from eager to return to a war-torn country they have never really known. "Life is better here in Pakistan. There is peace here, and I have my own life," ur-Rehman said.
Jalozai is one of more than 80 refugee encampments remaining in the country that are slated to close by the end of next year. So far, about 3,800 residents have left Jalozai for Afghanistan, according to U.N. officials.
More than 2 million registered Afghan refugees are settled in camps that stretch across parts of Pakistan's northwestern frontier and tribal areas. Although an estimated 3 million Afghans have returned home since 2002, the continued presence of millions of others in places such as Jalozai has become a thorny issue for Pakistan since the start of U.S.-led counterterrorism operations in the region.
A major U.S. ally, Pakistan has struggled for years to quell the rising influence of Taliban fighters inside Afghan refugee settlements.
A Western diplomat in Pakistan familiar with the camps said that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former U.S. ally with ties to the Taliban, has long held sway over extremists in the camp at Jalozai and in Shamshatoo, another Afghan settlement near Peshawar, making the camps a refuge for Taliban fighters. "They provide the perfect location for disappearing and recruiting, which is why we have been pushing for closure of these camps. You don't want to create a humanitarian crisis, but the security there is an issue," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More village than camp, Jalozai has a thriving economy built primarily on the transportation of goods and services across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. Homes are modest but have provided shelter for at least two generations of largely ethnic Pashtuns with Afghan roots. With fighting still underway in Afghanistan, many in the camp are fearful of what they will find on the other side of the border.
"I don't want to go back. In Afghanistan, the situation is clear," ur-Rehman said. "Every day there are bombings there, or suicide attacks. You never know where the attack is coming from."
Many Jalozai refugees have roots in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, where the fighting has been especially heavy in recent years. More than half, however, were born in Pakistan. Three-quarters of the camp population is younger than 28, according to Pakistan's commission on Afghan refugees. Few have firsthand knowledge of life in Afghanistan.
Zalmay Rasul, Afghanistan's national security adviser, said in an interview in Kabul last week that the government there is working to ensure a smooth return of Afghan refugees. Repatriation efforts have been complicated, however, because many Afghans are returning to conflict areas. "The return of refugees has already happened, and we are ready to accept those refugees who are coming," Rasul said. "We need to have at least a humanitarian infrastructure in place, however, to receive them."
According to U.N. and Pakistani government officials, the number of Afghan refugees who have returned to their country since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan in late 2001 has slowed, while international aid for refugees has dropped precipitously in the wake of the fighting. About 1.6 million refugees left the camps for Afghanistan in 2002 compared with 133,000 in 2006, according to U.N. data.
Meanwhile, aid donated by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has decreased from $28.9 million in 2001 to $9.3 million in 2007, a drop of 68 percent, a Pakistani government official said. "This is a very troubling aspect for us -- that the world and the donors are losing interest in the refugee problem. There is donor fatigue in the international community, yet they are asking us to do more and more," said Abdul Rauf Khan, the outgoing chief commissioner for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
As Pakistan rushes to close the settlements, refugees are left with scant economic resources, according to Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the U.N. commissioner's office in Pakistan. "This is a forgotten humanitarian crisis, yet the refugees are a major player in stabilizing the region," Tan said. "If you push them out in one go, then you destabilize the region. If you get them to go gradually, then there can be peace and stability."
Refugees who agree to return to Afghanistan receive about $100 each from the U.N. refugee agency to aid in the journey home. But with food, energy and lodging prices on the rise on both sides of the border, the money barely pays for transportation, several refugees at the camp said.
Abdullah, a bookseller at Jalozai, was an infant when his family moved to the settlement in the late 1980s. "Our whole extended family has been living here, and this camp is now like our ancestral village. We have seen the ups and downs of life here, with marriages and deaths in the family," said Abdullah, who like many ethnic Pashtuns uses only one name.
His family has been looking for a new home in Peshawar or its suburbs but has not found anything affordable. Government workers have already bulldozed the bookstore that he, his wife and four children relied on for income.
"My shop is demolished, but my home is still there," Abdullah said. "I will be the last person to leave this place."
Special correspondent Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar contributed to this report.