Afghans in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
Afghans in Pakistan are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan
during the 1980s Soviet war
as well as diplomats, trader
s, businessperson
s, workers, exchange students
, tourists
and other visitors. As of March 2009, some 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Pakistan
, majority of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA
and northwestern Balochistan. The ones designated as refugees are under the protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), and provided legal status by the Government of Pakistan
to remain in the country until the end of 2012.
The overwelming majority of Afghans in Pakistan are Pashtun
tribes
who are known to live and work on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
, but there are also significant numbers of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks
, Baloch
and other ethnic groups of Afghanistan
. The Afghan diaspora in Pakistan forms the largest group of Afghans living abroad
and has the record for the world's greatest refugee migration.
, especially from the time of the Ghaznavids of Ghazni
, and nomad people from modern-day Afghanistan have been migrating to the Indian subcontinent
(modern-day Pakistan and India) for centuries. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan and the entire present-day Pakistan were part of the Durrani Empire
and ruled by a successive line of Pashtun kings who had their capitals in the Afghan cities of Kandahar
and Kabul
. In 1857, in his review of J.W. Kaye's
The Afghan War, Friedrich Engels
describes "Afghanistan" as: Thus, interaction and migration between the native people in this region was common. After the Second Anglo-Afghan War
, the Durand Line
was established in the late 1800s for fixing the limits of sphere of influence
between Mortimer Durand
of British India
and Afghan Amir
Abdur Rahman Khan
. When Pakistan inherited this single-page agreement in 1947, which was basically to end politicial interference beyond the frontier
line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India, it divided the indigenous ethnic Pashtun
and Baloch
tribes. Most of the wars that Pakistan and Afghanistan have experianced since the 1940s
with their other neighbors (India
and former USSR
) some how relate to this Durand Line border.
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan
, large number of Afghans began leaving their country. As a result of political unrest
, mass arrests and executions, and other human rights violations, as well as the civil war
, around 3 million Afghan refugees made it to Pakistan and Iran
(see Afghans in Iran
) for safety. The migration began after December 1979 when the former Soviet Union (USSR) invaded Afghanistan with over 100,000 troops and continued throughout the 1980s.
In late 1988, approximately 3.3 million Afghan refugees were housed in Pakistan, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). It was reported by the New York Times in November 1988 that about 100,000 Afghans were living in the city of Peshawar
while more than 2 million were staying in the whole of KP, which was referred to as NWFP at the time. Located on the outskirts of Peshawar, the now-closed Jalozai
camp was one of the largest refugee camps in NWFP.
After the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States, when the U.S.
-led forces were getting ready to bomb al-Qaeda
and Taliban
targets inside Afghanistan, an unknown number of Afghans fled their country and crossed into Pakistan. This included mostly foreign militant groups (al-Qaida), local Taliban members and some ordinary Afghans who feared that they may end up being bombed by mistake. By the end of 2001, there were a total of approximately 5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which included the Afghans who were born inside Pakistan during the past 20 years.
through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) from both Pakistan and Iran
back to their native country, Afghanistan. According to a 2005 report Census of Afghans in Pakistan by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions
(Government of Pakistan
), the ethnic breakdown of Afghans in Pakistan was as follows: Pashtuns (81.5%), Tajiks (7.3%), Uzbeks (2.3%), Hazara (1.3%), Turkmen (2.0%), Balochi (1.7%) and others (3.9%).
From 2005 to late 2006, the Government of Pakistan began and completed a registration process of all Afghans living in the country. The total number of registered Afghans were reported at 2.15 million in February 2007. They were all issued computerized "proof of registration" (PoR) cards with special biometric
features, similar to the Pakistani National Identity Card
(NIC) but has "Afghan Citizen" on the front.
More than 357,000 Afghans were repatriated from Pakistan in the year 2007. The repatriation process took place between March and October of that year, with each person receiving a travel package of about 100 US dollars
. Approximately 80% of the refugees were those living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13% from Balochistan, 3% from Sindh
, and the remaining 4% from Punjab and Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad
.
As of March 2009, up to 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees still remain in Pakistan. They are allowed to work, rent houses, travel and attend schools in the country until the end of 2012. Because Afghanistan is not ready to accept so many returnees at this point, the UNHCR is shifting small number of refugees abroad, mostly to Canada, Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and other countries. Each family that returns to Afghanistan, on production of repatriation documents issued by the UNHCR, is believed to be provided free plot of land by the Government of Afghanistan
to build a new home.
Between 2010 and 2011, a total of 146,000 Afghan refugees left Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan. This would technically leave behind about 1,634,000 refugees in Pakistan. In addition, an unknown number of Afghan passport
holders travel to Pakistan with a visa
for various reasons, including family visit, business or trade, medical purpose, sport
competitions, education, tourism
, or to visit foreign embassies that are based inside Pakistan. Some go without the necessary travel documents and when arrested they either pay fines or spend time in jail. Afghan workers are provided with special border passes that allow them to cross the border on daily bases without needing a passport or visa. The same is the case for Pakistanis who work inside Afghanistan
. The visa costs between the two states is free of charge.
dominated areas of Pakistan, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) and the city of Quetta
in northern Balochistan. Smaller communities exist in Karachi
, Rawalpindi
, Islamabad
, Lahore
, and possibly other major cities.
refugee camp
alone hosted an Afghan population of 100,000 during the 1988 election when Benazir Bhutto
was running for Prime Minister of Pakistan
. Peshawar managed to assimilate many of the ethnic Pashtun
Afghans with relative ease, which has been historically (pre-1893) one of the principal cities of Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghan immigrants reside in various parts of Peshawar such as Latifabad, Zaryab colony, Hayatabad, Tehkal, Afghan colony, Afridiabad and Sethitown. During their long stay, the city of Peshawar became home for many Afghan musicians and artists.
ranks second with the most number of Afghan refugees (11%). Most Afghans in Quetta are engaged in lucrative business and trade activities; they have also bolstered inter-provincial trade and actively go on to work in large urban centres. Balochistan also shares similar demographics with Afghanistan and a large number of the refugees have hence migrated into the province based on ethnic links. A 2005 census of Afghans in Balochistan showed that the overwhelming majority were Pashtun, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Baluchis, Hazaras and Turkmen. Quetta is notably known as having the largest concentration of ethnic Hazaras outside Afghanistan, based in areas such as Hazara Town
. The Afghan Hazaras not only arrived during the 1980s Soviet war but also after fleeing persecution under the Taliban regime
in the 1990s. They developed closer links with their Pakistani Hazara patrons who had arrived during Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
's reign in the late 1800s when Quetta was still part of Afghanistan. Today, these Pakistani Hazaras exercise some political influence in the provincial Government of Balochistan. As opposed to settlement camps, a great number of the Hazaras are largely urbanised and have settled in city centres.
as of 2009.
and the adjoining sister city of Rawalpindi
. After the closure of the camp, the refugees were relocated and about 7,335 Afghans were reported to be living in Rawalpindi. In 2009, it was reported that the UNHCR helped some 3,000 refugees move from the slums of Islamabad to an undeveloped plot of land in a green belt on the edge of the city.
. Their number was reported at about 7,000 in October 2004. It was reported that some of the very poor ones (i.e. the trash pickers), began leaving for Afghanistan in October 2001 to fight against the United States armed forces
in the 2001-present war in Afghanistan. During the same time, some Afghans were arriving to Lahore to escape the US-led bombings in Afghanistan.
but their current status is unknown. A news article by Mazhar Tufail in The News International
mentioned that there may be some Afghans among other foreigners in Azad Kashmir but no other details were provided.
, where they do not have much contact with mainstream Pakistani society and culture, some travel to nearby cities for work or other purposes. The population of Pakistan
is about 180 million, making it the 6th 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 2010 Pakistan floods
have not only affected Pakistanis but also the Afghan refugees.
for Afghans who settle in Pakistan is comparably little. An increasing number of Afghan immigrants have adopted Urdu
, the national language of Pakistan, as their second or third language and can fluently speak it.
Some Afghans, especially those who were born and raised in Pakistan or have been living in the country for decades, identify themselves as Pakistanis and express their loyalties and patriotism by referring to Pakistan as their home. They participate in various national festivities and occasions, including Independence Day
celebrations.
Afghan communities have managed to retain and preserve their cultural values, traditions and customs despite the years of fighting and tough socio-economic conditions back in their country. The shared Pashtun culture
of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as other cultures, makes it easier for Afghans to feel familiar in Pakistan.
who earned scholarships from the Government of Pakistan. There are also numerous Afghan schools throughout Pakistan which cater to the educational needs of thousands of Afghan refugee children. The wealthy and well-off Afghans live in cities where they rent houses, drive cars, work in offices or run own businesses, with their children being enrolled in better schools and universities. Many of them receive remittances
from family or friends living abroad
. For example, thousands of the Kennedy Fried Chicken
owners and workers transfer money every month to their extended families in Pakistan. The self employed Afghans living in Pakistan are usually involved in the Afghan rug
business, Afghan cuisines, Afghan bakeries (making and selling Afghan bread
), import-export, auto showrooms, or small shops. A number of Afghans are involved in the mainstream media of Pakistan
as television hosts, actors and news anchors. Najiba Faiz is originally from Kunduz
, and she along with several others are popular faces on AVT Khyber
and other stations. While some may drive taxi cabs or sell fruits and other products as vendors, others work in five star
hotels such as the Serena and Marriott
. Many also work in factories or as employees for Pakistani shop owners. A 2007 report explained 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.
There are economic concerns that most Afghans do not pay taxes
while living in Pakistan. In Peshawar alone, 12,000 Afghan nationals were undertaking business operations while not paying a single amount of tax. Afghan traders were making billions of rupees
while not paying tax, which not only puts extra burden on local taxpayers and businessmen but also deeply affects revenue collection. To address these concerns, the Federal Board of Revenue implemented new measures to bring all Afghan traders into the tax net.
(WHO), USAID, and a number of other aid agencies. In October 2011, Prime Minister of Pakistan
Yousaf Raza Gilani blamed continous cross-border migration from Afghanistan to Pakistan as one of the causes contributing to the spread of polio disease in the country. Gilani explained that vaccinating all the children living in refugee camps and nearby villages in the "inhospitable" terrain along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was very difficult. He requested help from the international community while on his trip in the United Kingdom
.
has been widely spread and promoted due to Afghan refugees, who became influenced by the game while living in Pakistan. Most players in the Afghanistan national cricket team are composed of men who previously lived in Pakistan. Afghan cricket teams, such as the Afghan Cheetahs
, frequently participate in various Pakistani domestic cricket tournaments.
or Afghan passport
. In March 2007, as many as 337 Afghan nationals "were arrested for illegally travelling to Saudi Arabia
to perform Hajj
on fake Pakistani passports. After serving their prison sentence and paying fines, they were releaased on "the condition they will not enter Pakistan illegally again." There has been a debate in Pakistan about issuing Pakistani National Identity cards to the remaining registered Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan, many of which were born inside Pakistan. But several Pakistani politicians expressed their objection to the idea. One of them stated "they have overstayed their welcome, scattered across our cities and taken up our jobs".
in 1893, which is now controlled by a large network of mafia groups on both sides of the border. Some of the main items smuggled from Afghanistan into Pakistan are drugs such as opium
, hashish
, and heroin, as well as lumber
, precious stones, copper
, automobile
s and electronics
. The thriving drugs trade in the last decades and the opium production in Afghanistan
have taken a toll on Pakistan. According to a 2001 report, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
(Taliban government) have been unable to stop the refining and export of heroin stockpiles from its borders. The immediate result has been extensive smuggling of drugs into Pakistan illegally. Pakistani district police teams have periodically conducted "crackdowns" in Afghan refugee camps on the pretext of identifying outlaws or criminal elements. 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.
mainly target Afghan militants and insurgents connected with the Afghanistan war who fled to Pakistan's bordering tribal areas following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The Afghan militant groups which are mainly under target include Taliban and the Afghan Haqqani network
. Although much of their attacks are carried out inside Afghanistan, several Afghan refugees have been accused or arrested by Pakistani authorities for being involved in terrorism-related activities inside Pakistan as well. The 2009 Lahore police academy attacks
, which was blamed on Pakistani militant groups (Fedayeen al-Islam
and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
), involved one Afghan who was given 10 years prison sentence. In the 2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings
, a teenaged Afghan boy (Fida Hussain) from the tribal belt was arrested by police as a suspect. In 2003, 246 Taliban were arrested inside a hospital in Quetta
, Pakistan. Most of them were Afghan Taliban where they went to get treated after getting wounded during fighting inside Afghanistan. When commenting on Taliban activity in Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik
, remarked that Pakistan had "long sheltered Afghan refugees [but they are now acting] against Pakistan" and that Pakistan will not allow any Afghan nationals "to carry out criminal activities (here)". In order to curb illegal immigration and control law and order, Malik said that Pakistan had stopped issuing visit visas to certain Afghan nationals and increased measures were being implemented to restrict the illegal movement of Afghan refugees in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
during the 1980s Soviet war
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
as well as diplomats, trader
Trader
The term Trader can refer to:* Merchant, retailer or one who attempts to generally buy wholesale and sell later at a profit* Trader , someone who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, derivatives, etc....
s, businessperson
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
s, workers, exchange students
Student exchange program
A student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions...
, tourists
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and other visitors. As of March 2009, some 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, majority of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
and northwestern Balochistan. The ones designated as refugees are under the protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR), and provided legal status by the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
to remain in the country until the end of 2012.
The overwelming majority of Afghans in Pakistan are Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
tribes
Pashtun tribes
The Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second largest in Pakistan. Pashtun, tribes are divided into four supertribal confederacies: the Arbanee , Betanee , Gharghasht, and Karlanee .Traditionally, according to folklore, all Pashtuns are said to have descended, at...
who are known to live and work on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
Durand Line
The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
, but there are also significant numbers of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
and other ethnic groups of Afghanistan
Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a multiethnic society. The population of the country is divided into a wide variety of ethnolinguistic groups. The ethnic groups of the country are as follow: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Arab, Brahui, Pamiri and some others.-Ethnic...
. The Afghan diaspora in Pakistan forms the largest group of Afghans living abroad
Afghan diaspora
Afghan diaspora or Afghan immigrants are citizens of Afghanistan who have emigrated to other countries, or people of Afghan origin who are born outside Afghanistan.-List of countries:...
and has the record for the world's greatest refugee migration.
Political history and migration
DynastiesDelhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
, especially from the time of the Ghaznavids of Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
, and nomad people from modern-day Afghanistan have been migrating to the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
(modern-day Pakistan and India) for centuries. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan and the entire present-day Pakistan were part of the Durrani Empire
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire was a Pashtun dynasty centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the Kashmir region, the modern state of Pakistan, and northwestern India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief...
and ruled by a successive line of Pashtun kings who had their capitals in the Afghan cities of Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
and Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
. In 1857, in his review of J.W. Kaye's
John William Kaye
Sir John William Kaye was a British military historian.The son of Charles Kaye, a solicitor, he was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Addiscombe. From 1832 to 1841 he was an officer in the Bengal Artillery, afterwards spending some years in literary pursuits both in...
The Afghan War, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
describes "Afghanistan" as: Thus, interaction and migration between the native people in this region was common. After the Second Anglo-Afghan War
Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...
, the Durand Line
Durand Line
The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
was established in the late 1800s for fixing the limits of sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
between Mortimer Durand
Mortimer Durand
Sir Henry Mortimer Durand was a British diplomat and civil servant of colonial British India.-Background:Born at Sehore, Bhopal, India, he was the son of Sir Henry Marion Durand, the Resident of Baroda and he was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School, and Tonbridge School.-Career:Durand...
of British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and Afghan Amir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.The third son of Mohammad Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan, Abdur Rahman Khan was considered a strong ruler who re-established the writ of the Afghan government in Kabul after the disarray that followed the second...
. When Pakistan inherited this single-page agreement in 1947, which was basically to end politicial interference beyond the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India, it divided the indigenous ethnic Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
and Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
tribes. Most of the wars that Pakistan and Afghanistan have experianced since the 1940s
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
The India-Pakistan War of 1947-48, sometimes known as the First Kashmir War, was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four wars fought between the two newly independent nations...
with their other neighbors (India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and former USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) some how relate to this Durand Line border.
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
, large number of Afghans began leaving their country. As a result of political unrest
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution is the name given to the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan takeover of political power from the government of Afghanistan on 28 April 1978. The word 'Saur', i.e...
, mass arrests and executions, and other human rights violations, as well as the civil war
Civil war in Afghanistan
The Afghan civil war began when the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan took power in a military coup, known as the Saur Revolution, on 27 April 1978. Most of Afghanistan subsequently experienced uprisings against the unpopular Marxist-Leninist PDPA government. The Soviet Union...
, around 3 million Afghan refugees made it to Pakistan and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(see Afghans in Iran
Afghans in Iran
Afghans in Iran are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, nearly 1 million Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Iran...
) for safety. The migration began after December 1979 when the former Soviet Union (USSR) invaded Afghanistan with over 100,000 troops and continued throughout the 1980s.
In late 1988, approximately 3.3 million Afghan refugees were housed in Pakistan, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). It was reported by the New York Times in November 1988 that about 100,000 Afghans were living in the city of Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
while more than 2 million were staying in the whole of KP, which was referred to as NWFP at the time. Located on the outskirts of Peshawar, the now-closed Jalozai
Jalozai
Jalozai refugee camp, 35 kilometres southeast of Peshawar, Pakistan, was one of the largest of 150 refugee or transit camps in Pakistan, holding Afghan refugees from the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It had an estimated 70,000 refugees at its peak. New Jalozai adjoined the original Jalozai...
camp was one of the largest refugee camps in NWFP.
After the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States, when the U.S.
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
-led forces were getting ready to bomb al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
and Taliban
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
targets inside Afghanistan, an unknown number of Afghans fled their country and crossed into Pakistan. This included mostly foreign militant groups (al-Qaida), local Taliban members and some ordinary Afghans who feared that they may end up being bombed by mistake. By the end of 2001, there were a total of approximately 5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which included the Afghans who were born inside Pakistan during the past 20 years.
UNHCR repatriation program
Since early 2002, more than 5 million Afghans have been repatriatedRepatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR) from both Pakistan and Iran
Afghans in Iran
Afghans in Iran are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, nearly 1 million Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Iran...
back to their native country, Afghanistan. According to a 2005 report Census of Afghans in Pakistan by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions
Ministry of States and Frontier Regions
The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions is a federal government agency in Pakistan. The ministry is headed by the States and Frontier Regions Minister. Najmuddin Khan is the current Minister for States and Frontier Regions of Pakistan....
(Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
), the ethnic breakdown of Afghans in Pakistan was as follows: Pashtuns (81.5%), Tajiks (7.3%), Uzbeks (2.3%), Hazara (1.3%), Turkmen (2.0%), Balochi (1.7%) and others (3.9%).
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
features, similar to the Pakistani National Identity Card
Computerized National Identity Card
The Computerized National Identity Card is a Pakistani identity card. The card is issued first at the age of 18 and it is not compulsory to carry one...
(NIC) but has "Afghan Citizen" on the front.
More than 357,000 Afghans were repatriated from Pakistan in the year 2007. The repatriation process took place between March and October of that year, with each person receiving a travel package of about 100 US dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
. Approximately 80% of the refugees were those living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13% from Balochistan, 3% from Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, and the remaining 4% from Punjab and Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
.
As of March 2009, up to 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees still remain in Pakistan. They are allowed to work, rent houses, travel and attend schools in the country until the end of 2012. Because Afghanistan is not ready to accept so many returnees at this point, the UNHCR is shifting small number of refugees abroad, mostly to Canada, Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and other countries. Each family that returns to Afghanistan, on production of repatriation documents issued by the UNHCR, is believed to be provided free plot of land by the Government of Afghanistan
Politics of Afghanistan
The politics of Afghanistan consists of the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, with a president serving as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military. The nation is currently led by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai who is backed by two vice...
to build a new home.
Between 2010 and 2011, a total of 146,000 Afghan refugees left Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan. This would technically leave behind about 1,634,000 refugees in Pakistan. In addition, an unknown number of Afghan passport
Afghan passport
The Afghan passport is issued to citizens of Afghanistan for international travel. In September 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began issuing two types of British-style computerised passports to Afghan diplomats and public servants....
holders travel to Pakistan with a visa
Visa requirements for Afghan citizens
Ordinary Afghan citizens are granted visa-on-arrival to 26 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits -Americas:-Asia:-Oceania:...
for various reasons, including family visit, business or trade, medical purpose, sport
Sport in Afghanistan
The Sports in Afghanistan are run by the Afghan Sports Federation, which promotes cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, golf, handball, boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting, bodybuilding, track and field, skating, bowling, snooker, chess, and other sports...
competitions, education, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, or to visit foreign embassies that are based inside Pakistan. Some go without the necessary travel documents and when arrested they either pay fines or spend time in jail. Afghan workers are provided with special border passes that allow them to cross the border on daily bases without needing a passport or visa. The same is the case for Pakistanis who work inside Afghanistan
Pakistanis in Afghanistan
Pakistanis in Afghanistan include diplomats, traders, businesspersons and workers. Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighbouring states with a loosely-controlled border, and a distributed population of ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch people, there is constant flow of population between the two...
. The visa costs between the two states is free of charge.
Demographics
Most Afghans are generally found in the PashtunPashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
dominated areas of Pakistan, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
(FATA) and the city of Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
in northern Balochistan. Smaller communities exist in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, and possibly other major cities.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the FATA
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, Peshawar served as a center for hosting Afghan refugees. The JalozaiJalozai
Jalozai refugee camp, 35 kilometres southeast of Peshawar, Pakistan, was one of the largest of 150 refugee or transit camps in Pakistan, holding Afghan refugees from the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It had an estimated 70,000 refugees at its peak. New Jalozai adjoined the original Jalozai...
refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
alone hosted an Afghan population of 100,000 during the 1988 election when Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
was running for Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
. Peshawar managed to assimilate many of the ethnic Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
Afghans with relative ease, which has been historically (pre-1893) one of the principal cities of Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghan immigrants reside in various parts of Peshawar such as Latifabad, Zaryab colony, Hayatabad, Tehkal, Afghan colony, Afridiabad and Sethitown. During their long stay, the city of Peshawar became home for many Afghan musicians and artists.
Balochistan
After Peshawar, the city of QuettaQuetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
ranks second with the most number of Afghan refugees (11%). Most Afghans in Quetta are engaged in lucrative business and trade activities; they have also bolstered inter-provincial trade and actively go on to work in large urban centres. Balochistan also shares similar demographics with Afghanistan and a large number of the refugees have hence migrated into the province based on ethnic links. A 2005 census of Afghans in Balochistan showed that the overwhelming majority were Pashtun, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Baluchis, Hazaras and Turkmen. Quetta is notably known as having the largest concentration of ethnic Hazaras outside Afghanistan, based in areas such as Hazara Town
Hazara town
Hazara Town is a lower- to middle-income area on the west of Quetta city with a population of up to 70,000, of which an approximately one-third are Hazara with minority Baloch and Pathan tribe on south of Hazara town. Hazara Town begins from Brewery Road near Bolan Medical College and continue to...
. The Afghan Hazaras not only arrived during the 1980s Soviet war but also after fleeing persecution under the Taliban regime
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
in the 1990s. They developed closer links with their Pakistani Hazara patrons who had arrived during Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.The third son of Mohammad Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan, Abdur Rahman Khan was considered a strong ruler who re-established the writ of the Afghan government in Kabul after the disarray that followed the second...
's reign in the late 1800s when Quetta was still part of Afghanistan. Today, these Pakistani Hazaras exercise some political influence in the provincial Government of Balochistan. As opposed to settlement camps, a great number of the Hazaras are largely urbanised and have settled in city centres.
Sindh
According to the UNHCR and the local law enforcement agency, about 50,000 Afghan refugees live in KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
as of 2009.
Islamabad and Rawalpindi
Before 2006, there were about 25,000 Afghans living in a refugee camp between the capital IslamabadIslamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
and the adjoining sister city of Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
. After the closure of the camp, the refugees were relocated and about 7,335 Afghans were reported to be living in Rawalpindi. In 2009, it was reported that the UNHCR helped some 3,000 refugees move from the slums of Islamabad to an undeveloped plot of land in a green belt on the edge of the city.
Punjab
In June 2007, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) registered 16,439 Afghans living in the eastern Pakistani city of LahoreLahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Their number was reported at about 7,000 in October 2004. It was reported that some of the very poor ones (i.e. the trash pickers), began leaving for Afghanistan in October 2001 to fight against the United States armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
in the 2001-present war in Afghanistan. During the same time, some Afghans were arriving to Lahore to escape the US-led bombings in Afghanistan.
Azad Kashmir
During the 1980s, around 13,000 made their way to various cities of Azad KashmirAzad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...
but their current status is unknown. A news article by Mazhar Tufail in The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
mentioned that there may be some Afghans among other foreigners in Azad Kashmir but no other details were provided.
Social life and contemporary issues
Although most of the Afghans live in specially designated refugee camps near the Pakistan-Afghan borderDurand Line
The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
, where they do not have much contact with mainstream Pakistani society and culture, some travel to nearby cities for work or other purposes. The population of Pakistan
Demographics of Pakistan
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Pakistan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
is about 180 million, making it the 6th 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
2005 Kashmir earthquake
The 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad, affecting Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005...
and the 2010 Pakistan floods
2010 Pakistan floods
The 2010 Pakistan floods began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater, approximately...
have not only affected Pakistanis but also the Afghan refugees.
Culture and relations with Pakistani society
Due to historical, ethnic and linguistic connections, Afghan immigrants living in Pakistan find it relatively easy to adapt to local customs and culture and there are few obstacles for transition and assimilation into mainstream society; the impact of a culture shockCulture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
for Afghans who settle in Pakistan is comparably little. An increasing number of Afghan immigrants have adopted Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, the national language of Pakistan, as their second or third language and can fluently speak it.
Some Afghans, especially those who were born and raised in Pakistan or have been living in the country for decades, identify themselves as Pakistanis and express their loyalties and patriotism by referring to Pakistan as their home. They participate in various national festivities and occasions, including Independence Day
Independence Day (Pakistan)
Pakistan's independence day is observed on 14 August, the day before Pakistan was made an independent country based on border lines created by the British during the end of their rule of India. Pakistan became an independent country in 1947. The day is a national holiday in Pakistan...
celebrations.
Afghan communities have managed to retain and preserve their cultural values, traditions and customs despite the years of fighting and tough socio-economic conditions back in their country. The shared Pashtun culture
Pashtun culture
Pashtun culture is based on Pashtunwali, which is an ancient way of life, as well as speaking of the Pashto language and wearing Pashtun dress. The culture of the Pashtun people is highlighted since at least the time of Herodotus or Alexander the Great, when he explored the Afghanistan and...
of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as other cultures, makes it easier for Afghans to feel familiar in Pakistan.
Education and economics
At least 71% of registered Afghans did not have any formal education and only 20% were active in the labour market. Despite some of economic the hardships and challenges faced in Pakistan, many Afghans are not willing to return home in the nearby future, citing security concerns and lack of shelter or livelihood opportunities in Afghanistan. About 6,500 Afghans are studying in various universities across Pakistan, with 729 or so as exchanged studentsStudent exchange program
A student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions...
who earned scholarships from the Government of Pakistan. There are also numerous Afghan schools throughout Pakistan which cater to the educational needs of thousands of Afghan refugee children. The wealthy and well-off Afghans live in cities where they rent houses, drive cars, work in offices or run own businesses, with their children being enrolled in better schools and universities. Many of them receive remittances
Remittances
A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to his or her home country. Note that in 19th century usage a remittance man was someone exiled overseas and sent an allowance on condition that he not return home....
from family or friends living abroad
Afghan diaspora
Afghan diaspora or Afghan immigrants are citizens of Afghanistan who have emigrated to other countries, or people of Afghan origin who are born outside Afghanistan.-List of countries:...
. For example, thousands of the Kennedy Fried Chicken
Kennedy Fried Chicken
Kennedy Fried Chicken, also known as Crown Fried Chicken, is a common restaurant name primarily in the New York-New Jersey area, but many other similar establishments are found in nearby smaller cities or towns along the Northeastern United States...
owners and workers transfer money every month to their extended families in Pakistan. The self employed Afghans living in Pakistan are usually involved in the Afghan rug
Afghan rug
An Afghan rug is a type of handwoven floor-covering textile traditionally made in Afghanistan. Many of the Afghan rugs are also woven by Afghan refugees who reside in Pakistan and Iran. In any case, Afghan rugs are genuine, often charming — and usually phenomenally inexpensive...
business, Afghan cuisines, Afghan bakeries (making and selling Afghan bread
Afghan bread
Afghan bread, or Nan-e Afghani , is the national bread of Afghanistan. The bread is oval or rectangular and baked in a tandoor, a cylindrical oven which is the primary cooking equipment of the sub-continental region. The Afghan version of the tandoor sits above ground and is made of bricks, which...
), import-export, auto showrooms, or small shops. A number of Afghans are involved in the mainstream media of Pakistan
Media of Pakistan
Media in Pakistan provides information on television, radio, cinema, newspapers, and magazines in Pakistan.-Regulation:The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority was formed in 2002 to "facilitate and promote a free, fair and independent electronic media", including opening the broadcasting...
as television hosts, actors and news anchors. Najiba Faiz is originally from Kunduz
Kunduz
Kunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...
, and she along with several others are popular faces on AVT Khyber
AVT Khyber
AVT Khyber or Khyber TV is a Pakistani-operated Pashto satellite television station in Pakistan, which was launched in July 2004. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, providing educational, news, variety of shows, dramas, and entertaining programs to the Pashtun population of Pakistan and...
and other stations. While some may drive taxi cabs or sell fruits and other products as vendors, others work in five star
Five Star
Five Star are a British pop / R&B group, formed in 1983. Comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson, they were known for their flamboyant image, matching costumes and heavily choreographed dance routines...
hotels such as the Serena and Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
. Many also work in factories or as employees for Pakistani shop owners. A 2007 report explained 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.
There are economic concerns that most Afghans do not pay taxes
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...
while living in Pakistan. In Peshawar alone, 12,000 Afghan nationals were undertaking business operations while not paying a single amount of tax. Afghan traders were making billions of rupees
Pakistani rupee
The rupee is the currency of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank of the country. The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs, used on receipts when purchasing goods and services. In Pakistan, the rupee is referred to as the...
while not paying tax, which not only puts extra burden on local taxpayers and businessmen but also deeply affects revenue collection. To address these concerns, the Federal Board of Revenue implemented new measures to bring all Afghan traders into the tax net.
Health
The Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are not only helped by the UNHCR but also by the UNICEF, the World Health OrganizationWorld Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO), USAID, and a number of other aid agencies. In October 2011, Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
Yousaf Raza Gilani blamed continous cross-border migration from Afghanistan to Pakistan as one of the causes contributing to the spread of polio disease in the country. Gilani explained that vaccinating all the children living in refugee camps and nearby villages in the "inhospitable" terrain along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was very difficult. He requested help from the international community while on his trip in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Sport
Cricket in AfghanistanCricket in Afghanistan
Cricket in Afghanistan is a sport growing in popularity, which is represented internationally by the Afghanistan national cricket team. Afghanistan's proximity to the test playing nation of Pakistan has helped the game to take root....
has been widely spread and promoted due to Afghan refugees, who became influenced by the game while living in Pakistan. Most players in the Afghanistan national cricket team are composed of men who previously lived in Pakistan. Afghan cricket teams, such as the Afghan Cheetahs
Afghan Cheetahs
The Afghan Cheetahs are a Pakistan's domestic t20 cricket team established in 2011-12 from Afghanistan that play in Pakistans domestic Faysal Bank Twenty-20 Cup in September/October 2011. The team is captained by Mohammad Nabi and coached by Raees Ahmadzai....
, frequently participate in various Pakistani domestic cricket tournaments.
Discrimination
Although Afghans in Pakistan have been treated a lot better compared to those living in Iran, some reports have shown that they are sometimes harassed by corrupted Pakistani police even when they provide legal travel documents. Afghans also face stereotypes related to terrorism.Crime
Thousands of Afghans were reported to be languishing in various Pakistani jails as of May 2011, most of whom are arrested for offenses ranging from petty crimes to not having a proof of registration (PoR) card, Pakistani visaVisa requirements for Afghan citizens
Ordinary Afghan citizens are granted visa-on-arrival to 26 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits -Americas:-Asia:-Oceania:...
or Afghan passport
Afghan passport
The Afghan passport is issued to citizens of Afghanistan for international travel. In September 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began issuing two types of British-style computerised passports to Afghan diplomats and public servants....
. In March 2007, as many as 337 Afghan nationals "were arrested for illegally travelling to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
to perform Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
on fake Pakistani passports. After serving their prison sentence and paying fines, they were releaased on "the condition they will not enter Pakistan illegally again." There has been a debate in Pakistan about issuing Pakistani National Identity cards to the remaining registered Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan, many of which were born inside Pakistan. But several Pakistani politicians expressed their objection to the idea. One of them stated "they have overstayed their welcome, scattered across our cities and taken up our jobs".
Smuggling
Smuggling became a major business after the establishment of the Durand LineDurand Line
The Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
in 1893, which is now controlled by a large network of mafia groups on both sides of the border. Some of the main items smuggled from Afghanistan into Pakistan are drugs such as opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
, and heroin, as well as lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, precious stones, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s and electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
. The thriving drugs trade in the last decades and the opium production in Afghanistan
Opium production in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma and the "Golden Triangle" since 1992, excluding the year 2001. Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent". Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S....
have taken a toll on Pakistan. According to a 2001 report, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
(Taliban government) have been unable to stop the refining and export of heroin stockpiles from its borders. The immediate result has been extensive smuggling of drugs into Pakistan illegally. Pakistani district police teams have periodically conducted "crackdowns" in Afghan refugee camps on the pretext of identifying outlaws or criminal elements. Another form of smuggling is human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
. According to one particular report, asylum seeking Afghans, Iranians, and others wanting to reach Malaysia pay up to $10,000 to Pakistani human smugglers
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
in the city of Karachi.
Terrorism
Insurgents and militants from Afghanistan constantly enter and cross over into Pakistan's bordering regions for shelter. Due to the porous nature of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, it is difficult for local authorities and security agencies to keep a full check on the movement of Afghan militants into the country. American drone attacks in PakistanDrone attacks in Pakistan
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
mainly target Afghan militants and insurgents connected with the Afghanistan war who fled to Pakistan's bordering tribal areas following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The Afghan militant groups which are mainly under target include Taliban and the Afghan Haqqani network
Haqqani network
The Haqqani Network is an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating from Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence during the 1980s Soviet war in...
. Although much of their attacks are carried out inside Afghanistan, several Afghan refugees have been accused or arrested by Pakistani authorities for being involved in terrorism-related activities inside Pakistan as well. The 2009 Lahore police academy attacks
2009 Lahore police academy attacks
At 7.30 am on 30 March 2009, the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan was attacked by an estimated 12 gunmen. The perpetrators were armed with automatic weapons and grenades or rockets and some were dressed as policemen. They took over the main building during a morning parade when 750...
, which was blamed on Pakistani militant groups (Fedayeen al-Islam
Fedayeen al-Islam
Fedayeen al-Islam is a militant group in Pakistan under the leadership of Hakimullah Mehsud, who was a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan prior to Baitullah's death...
and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP...
), involved one Afghan who was given 10 years prison sentence. In the 2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings
2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings
A pair of bombings occurred on 3 April 2011 in a Sufi shrine dedicated to a 13th-century Sufi saint, Ahmed Sultan, located in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in the southern region of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab.-Background:...
, a teenaged Afghan boy (Fida Hussain) from the tribal belt was arrested by police as a suspect. In 2003, 246 Taliban were arrested inside a hospital in Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
, Pakistan. Most of them were Afghan Taliban where they went to get treated after getting wounded during fighting inside Afghanistan. When commenting on Taliban activity in Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Rehman Malik
27 April 2009 He has been the interior adviser since 27 March 2008.Senator A. Rehman Malik is a Pakistani politician, member of the Senate of Pakistan, and the current Interior Minister of Pakistan under the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani administration. His Second name is Shetan Malik and he...
, remarked that Pakistan had "long sheltered Afghan refugees [but they are now acting] against Pakistan" and that Pakistan will not allow any Afghan nationals "to carry out criminal activities (here)". In order to curb illegal immigration and control law and order, Malik said that Pakistan had stopped issuing visit visas to certain Afghan nationals and increased measures were being implemented to restrict the illegal movement of Afghan refugees in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Notable people
The following list includes Afghan nationals living in Pakistan as well as Pakistani citizens who are of Afghan origin.- Aryan Khan, Afghan actor
- Najiba Faiz, Afghan from KunduzKunduzKunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...
and now a television personality at AVT KhyberAVT KhyberAVT Khyber or Khyber TV is a Pakistani-operated Pashto satellite television station in Pakistan, which was launched in July 2004. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, providing educational, news, variety of shows, dramas, and entertaining programs to the Pashtun population of Pakistan and... - Fatima BhuttoFatima BhuttoFatima Bhutto born, Fatima Murtaza Bhutto on 29 May 1982, is a Pakistani poet and writer. She is granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the niece of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and daughter of Murtaza Bhutto....
, Pakistani poet and writer - NaghmaNaghmaNaghma is a prominent Afghan singer who started in the early 1970s. She and her ex-husband, Mangal, were a popular musical duo who dominated Afghan music scene during the 1970s and early 1990s. Naghma sings in Pashto and Dari...
, Afghan singerMusic of AfghanistanThe music of Afghanistan has existed for a long time, but since the late 1970s the country has been involved in constant wars and people were less concerned about music... - Karim Sadiq, Afghan cricket player
See also
- Afghan diasporaAfghan diasporaAfghan diaspora or Afghan immigrants are citizens of Afghanistan who have emigrated to other countries, or people of Afghan origin who are born outside Afghanistan.-List of countries:...
- Pakistanis in AfghanistanPakistanis in AfghanistanPakistanis in Afghanistan include diplomats, traders, businesspersons and workers. Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighbouring states with a loosely-controlled border, and a distributed population of ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch people, there is constant flow of population between the two...
- Afghanistan–Pakistan relations