KARACHI, Jan 9: The settlements inhabited by Afghans in the metropolis also serve as hideouts of criminals, and the law enforcement agencies only conduct raids with the prior permission of tribal lords. A well-placed source told this scribe that the involvement of Afghans in house robberies, street crime, murders, and land grabbing is increasing and the police find it difficult in tracking them as they have no identity documents.

Hundreds of thousands of people use the Super Highway daily. They may not notice the shacks and hovels beside Al-Asif Square. An ordinary citizen cannot dare to enter this camp, commonly known as Afghan Basti. Even the police have to seek the permission of the tribal lords who live in these camps. There is no check on Afghan refugees entering any Pakistani city, but an Afghan camp is a ‘no-go area’ for a Pakistani citizen.

“The Afghans are involved in gun-running and drug smuggling, and the police despite possessing credible information cannot conduct a raid without the prior permission of the tribal lord of that particular neighbourhood in the Afghan camp”, a senior police officer told Dawn requesting anonymity.

Replying to a question, he said, “yes, police patrol the streets of Afghan Basti, but the patrolling is allowed only during specific times in a day that has been agreed between the police and the tribal lords. Other than these timings, the police can not enter Afghan Basti”, he complained “The situation is better than it was five years ago. Earlier, the police was always resisted by the Basti dwellers,” he said adding this was supposed to be the camp considered the most dangerous by the law enforcement authorities.

“We have controlled the law & order situation in other camps and police patrol there. However, a civilian should not enter without informing the police”, he advised.

There are two camps with a large population of Afghan refugees known as Afghan Basti. Tthe other one is in Surjani Town, off the newly constructed Northern Bypass.

There are more than 3,000 houses, some of them constructed with concrete and multi-storey while others are mud huts. Besides these two camps, a settlement known as Koochi camp near Toll Plaza on Super Highway and another one called Faquira Goth in Sachal area is home to Afghan refugees.

A police official, who served in various police stations in what is Gadap Town today, said the city came to an end at Sohrab Goth in the 1980s. The Afghan refugees, who migrated to Karachi, started building huts and hovels near Al-Asif Square, a residential complex. The prices of property in the complex dropped drastically, and the legal owners lost their apartments after the refugees occupied them illegally. Their population kept increasing and most of the area was encroached upon, which was later declared an Afghan refugees camp.

In 1990, the government launched a crackdown on criminals in Afghan camp and separated them into different places so that their strength could be divided. Seventeen years after that crackdown, the police are still afraid of patrolling inside the camp without informing tribal lords. A number of police officials believe that certain Afghan elements are in constant touch with the criminal network in Afghanistan and still smuggling heroin and arms to Karachi

Another police officer said there was a need for another crackdown on criminal elements in all Afghan camps to recover arms and narcotics. He said on many an occasion, Afghan youths were found involved in criminal activities like snatching of cellular phones, stealing of car stereos, looting people at gunpoint, committing house robberies, etc.

Besides, Afghan women also indulged in crime as they boarded women compartments in buses and minibuses in groups and deprived women passengers of gold ornaments and belongings. Some Afghan families resorted to beggary and committed robberies whenever they got an opportunity, he added.