By : ATTIQ DURRANI
Pakistan hosts approximately three million Afghans. Which events triggered their migration to Pakistan? How does Pakistan deal with these migrants, and what is known about their living conditions?
The History of Afghan Migration into Pakistan
Historically, there has always been some movement of individuals and groups across what is today known as the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. This is because shared ethno-linguistic groups such as Pashtuns, Hazaras, and Gujjars are found on both sides of the border. When the Afghanistan-British India border (also known as the Durand Line) was negotiated in 1893 under British colonial rule, it was shaped by a fluid, semi-autonomous geographic ‘buffer zone’ called the Tribal Areas (located on the side of British India). Zur Auflösung der Fußnote[2] In 1947, after the independence and partition of British India into two new nation-states, India and Pakistan, Pakistan inherited this fluid border and buffer zone, which was renamed as Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Until March 2018 FATA remained outside of the full grip of the Pakistani constitution (Article 247). In practice this meant that it was difficult to regulate population flows across the border. Yet between 1947 and the 1970s most population movements were limited to a few thousand nomads, traders, and families with historic connections across both sides of the border. It was only in the 1970s when political conditions in Afghanistan changed, and especially with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, that tens of thousands and then millions of Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan.
The Afghan Population in Pakistan
Since the 1970s, Pakistan has hosted over eight million Afghans. Many of them have returned to Afghanistan or migrated on to other countries. From 2002 to 2018 4.3 million registered refugees have repatriated to Afghanistan. The Afghan population in Pakistan has fluctuated because of different migration waves and natural population growth rates. Today, there are three million Afghans in Pakistan: 1.4 million are refugees registered with the government of Pakistan and UNHCR (“Afghan refugees”); 1,0-1.5 million are undocumented Afghans.
A 2011 survey of refugees and undocumented Afghans highlights that 74 percent of all Afghans living in Pakistan were born in the country and are, sociologically speaking, Pakistani. Zur Auflösung der Fußnote[8]
Of the 1.4 million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan 56 percent are male, 44 are female. Zur Auflösung der Fußnote[9] Children make up 50 percent of the Pakistan-based Afghan population. Overall, 72 percent of Afghans residing in Pakistan are women and children.
85 percent of the 1.4 million registered Afghans in Pakistan are of Pashtun origin, an ethno-linguistic group that is also found in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, (former) FATA region, and the province of Balochistan. Other major Afghan ethnic groups in Pakistan include Tajiks (six percent), Uzbeks (three percent), Turkmens (one percent), and Hazaras (two percent). Zur Auflösung der Fußnote[10]
32 percent of registered Afghans in Pakistan live in refugee camps; 68 percent reside outside these camps, most of them in urban areas. Zur Auflösung der Fußnote[11] In the cities, they often live in informal settlements and are confronted with limited access to basic goods and security. Yet, Afghans living in refugee camps are not necessarily better off. Many have suffered from reduced international funding and the closure of camps.
Pakistan plays a great role helping Afghan refugees since long.
