AFGHAN REFUGEES A THREAT TO PAKISTAN SECURITY

1. INTRODUCTION
Pakistan is facing numerous challenges on different fronts. From
sectarian violence to terrorism, from power shortage to a pervasive
deprivation of basic rights, the list is extensive. One of these concerns
is the self-inflicted issue of illegal Afghan immigrants that have made
Pakistan their leisure resort.

2. AIM
The aim of this assignment is to elaborate the security threats that
Pakistan is facing due to Afghan Refugees.

3. SEQUENCE
a. History
b. Tribal belt of Pakistan
c. Problems for Pakistan
d. Benefit for Pakistan
e. Conclusion
f. Recommendation
g. Refrences
4. HISTORY
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, a large number of Afghans
began abandoning their country. As the result of ongoing civil war,

political unrest, executions and other human rights violations taking

place, around 3 million Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan. According to
records, approximately 3.3 million Afghan refugees were contained in
around 340 refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Later in
2001,

the

US

and

Allied

Forces

began

military

operations

in

Afghanistan. This again began the mass unrest, bringing the figure up
to nearly 5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan by the end of 2001,
which included the ones who were born inside Pakistan during the past
20 years. Most Afghans shifted to Pakistan without documentation,
they neither registered themselves with any authority nor they were
documented in any form creating a major security lapse.

5. TRIBAL BELT OF PAKISTAN

The tribal belts of Pakistan hold majority of mountains and uneven land
that cannot be monitored completely allowing illegal Afghans to travel
easily between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tribes that inhabit these
mountains have migrated seasonally between the borders of these two
nations for centuries.

Afghans who moved to Pakistan as a result of the Soviet invasion have

now permanently settled in Pakistan. About 70 percent of registered
Afghans did not acquire any formal education or have showed any
interest in educating their children. A survey report showed that
Afghans are reportedly willing to work for lower wages than the
average Pakistanis. Afghan labour is heavily employed in business
sectors such as transport and construction.
Afghan border stretches out for 2,200 kms, which makes it very
challenging to cover for surveillance. Moreover, the terrain makes it
almost impossible to completely monitor the area.

6. PROBLEMS FOR PAKISTAN

a. Afghan refugee camps turned into safe havens for terrorists

Afghan refugee camps within Pakistan turned into safe havens for
terrorists after the country's armed forces destroyed the militants'
infrastructure in tribal areas. About the recent tensions with
Afghanistan, it is claimed that Pakistan is paying for the policies it
adopted during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, "5million
refugees came here, along with drugs, guns bringing instability to
Pakistan".
"Then occurred 9/11 and then the Mujahideen that we, US and other
countries jointly created were thrown out (from Afghanistan) into
our tribal areas and then started a wave of suicide attacks and
terrorism which killed more than 7000 Pakistanis,"

b. Economic Concerns
Then there are economic concerns that most Afghans do not pay
taxes whilst living in Pakistan. In Peshawar alone, Afghan traders are
making billions of rupees while not paying single penny of tax,
which

not

only

puts

extra

burden

on

local

taxpayers

and

businessmen but also deeply affects revenue collection. The

population of Pakistan is around 180 million, making it the sixth
most populous country in the world. As a result of this and a number
of other reasons, including the political unrest in Pakistan, energy
crises, rise of unemployment, and the strained relations between
Pakistan and Afghanistan, Afghan immigrants are increasingly
viewed as an additional economic and social burden on Pakistan. For
example, the 2005 earthquake and the flood of 2010 laid massive
strain on civil and military administration due to local residents and
vast amount Afghan refugees.
c. Increase in Drugs Trade

The expanding drugs trade in the last few decades and the opium
production in Afghanistan have taken a toll on Pakistan. According
to a report, 90 percent of heroin from Afghanistan is smuggled into
Central Asia, including Pakistan, making it part of the Golden
Crescent, the title given to one of Asias two principal areas of illicit
opium production (with the other being the Golden Triangle),
located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western Asia. This
space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan,
whose mountainous peripheries define the crescent.

Afghanistan is known to be one of the major producer of high quality

opium but owing to its geographical landlock, it has no existing
connections to the international waters. This the nation counters by
making illegal export of heroin and other drugs through Pakistan to
various regions, such as Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Drug
smuggling is also one of the major offences in which Afghans are
arrested. Another form of smuggling is human trafficking. According
to one particular report, asylum seeking Afghans, Iranians, and
others wanting to reach Malaysia pay up to $10,000 to Pakistani
human smugglers in the city of Karachi.

d. Increase of Pedophilia in society

Research published in 2014 by the Punjab University indicated a
sizable and growing number of Pakistani mafia members being
actively involved in pedophilia, a shameful act that one cannot even
openly discuss. Pedophilia is a common practice in Afghanistan. In a
report published by The New York Times pedophilia or Bacha Bazi
is so common in Afghanistan that US Marines and soldiers were
instructed not to intervene is this routine. This practice was also
disclosed by a video documentary Pakistans Hidden Shame that
shows the extent of this problem in Northern parts of Pakistan
including Peshawar. Afghani kids that run from home are often an
easy target of this hideous act. This practice is also a cause of
spreading diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, herpes, syphilis and
HPV.

e. Effect of Polio
The

Afghan

refugee

continuous

cross-border

migration

from

Afghanistan to Pakistan is also one of the causes contributing to the

spread of polio disease in the country. Vaccinating all the children
living in refugee camps and nearby villages in the hostile area along

the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is very difficult and mainly cases of

polio are emerging from these areas.

f. Transfer of illegal money

Afghanis are also involved in illegal money transferring through
Hundi and Hawala. Around 45 illegal money changers were arrested
in 2015 only, allegedly involved in supporting terrorist organisations
who were receiving funds through these money changers. Illegal
money is also generated from stolen vehicles that are either sold in
parts or half bodies, known as Kabli parts, which is damaging the
legal importers who pay millions of rupees in taxes and duties on
import. This illegal channel is on the rise in Peshawar, Rawalpindi,
Lahore and other car spare parts markets. The cars that are stolen
from any city will be dissembled and distributed in these markets by
parts.

g. Use of unregister SIMs

Additionally, illegal Afghan registered SIMs being used in Pakistan
are also a cause of worry. Such SIMs have been used in several
terrorist activities. They are registered in Afghanistan and are
smuggled in bulks by illegal trafficking like many other smuggled
items. According to an assessment, 90 percent of terrorist activities
in Pakistan are linked back to Afghan refugees or their camps.

The APS Peshawar school massacre in December 2014, in which 144

students were martyred, regarded as the deadliest terrorist incident
in Pakistans history, also involved six Afghan militants who were
later arrested from Afghanistan by Afghan security agencies. In
2015, the Bacha Khan University incident in Charsadda, KP, took
place, martyring around 22 individuals, mostly students. Four
terrorists

entered

Afghanistan

and

Pakistan
massacred

through
the

Torkham

innocent.

The

Border
attack

from
was

commanded from Afghanistan by Taliban commander and his

deputy commander till the end.
h. Security Threat to forces
Afghanis that are working as chai boys, boot polish, tire puncture
and many other form of working class are involved in recce of high
profile targets. They are often assigned the task of taking pictures
and noting down details of protocol and surveillance roots. Case in
point, the masons that worked in Bacha Khan University recently
carried out the recce of the university and provided the critical
information to the assaulters. Same technique is very common in
kidnapping for ransom of different individuals. In a personal
interview that I conducted of a victim of ransom kidnapping, the
victim told me that his kidnappers took him to the border areas. He
was told that the kidnappers had been keeping eye on him for one
year. They openly told him that they had many sources in our cities
and that we cannot even speculate the extent of their approach in
both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
i. Miscellaneous threats
(1)One of the threats of Afghan Refugees is for NADRA to identify
Afghan people illegally registered in their database.

(2)Afghan people are involved in killings for ransom and snatching,

(3)They have created illegal encroachment in main cities of
Pakistan; including capital of Pakistan. Where they have illegal
businesses and place for terrorists.
BENEFIT FOR PAKISTAN
The Government of Pakistan receives estimated $133 million a year ($78 per
person per year) from UNHCR for hosting Afghans on its side of the border
but at a huge cost of security compromises and other major problems. It is
time now to take serious measurements to secure our borders or we will be
facing much worse circumstances in time to come. We must revise our
foreign policy toward illegal Afghanis and take drastic decisions in this
regard.
CONCLUSION
Most Afghan have no roots in Pakistan, nor do they have any sincerity toward
Pakistanis. For them Pakistan is a country with rules that are easy to bend
and lawlessness that can be used to their advantage. Making money is the
only aspect that they have in their mind when they come here. Whether right
or wrong is not of importance, Afghanis have been used in different proxy
wars by agencies of other countries from a long time now. They are an easy

disposable asset to be used against Pakistan at a reasonable price for

maximum damage.
RECOMMENDATION
This, of course, does not necessarily mean deportation. There are bodies and
institutions in Pakistan who sympathies deeply with the Afghans. They
provide a strong case for the refugees. Afghans fled to Pakistan in hordes.
Most of these are settled here now. They married, had children and their
generations have flourished in the nation. The new generation was born and
raised in Pakistan, this is the only life theyve ever known. They sing the
Pakistani national anthem, root for the Pakistani cricket team and engage in
all the nuances that make us Pakistani. They have made their lives in
Pakistan with years of hard work and cant give that up.
According to the Afghans, in the light of recent events, misplaced resentment
and agitation towards them have reached dangerous levels. The police
harass them, take them away even if they have the required documents.
Reports of Afghans being detained for no reasons are increasing with each
passing day.
In this spirit, a system needs to be developed which can effectively record
and monitor Afghans and determine who can stay in the nation and who
cant. The Afghans, if utilised properly, can become a crucial part of our
economy and workforce.

REFERENCES
a. http://www.sdpi.org/publications/files/W84-INSECURITY.pdf
b. http://www.fmreview.org/afghanistan/tyler.html
c. IN/SECURITY: Afghan Refugees and Politics in Pakistan Saba Gul
Khattak Working Paper Series # 84, 2003.
d. The Afghan Refugees and Pakistans Internal Security Problems by
Professor Iqbal Cheema, Quaid e Azam University, 1994.