A s the sun beams came through the tinted glass windows, they gave a beautiful light, section by section in the Sacred Heart Church in Rawalpindi, when the community celebrated the 50th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Hospice recently.

Today, Easter is celebrated in the same church with many of the same members. Some of them are old and sick; they are being treated and cared for in the wards of the hospice, and they may live there till the end of their days.

Some of the young boys and girls, who are patients, may also be in the institution for life.

Others have been admitted for curable illnesses and will go home, or just out into real life and jobs, when that time comes.

The sun beams hit some of them, too, but through the open doors on the side wing of the church. That light was not artificial or tinted.

“We should all try to see the reality in natural light and do what is in our power,” says Shahbaz Gulshan, philosophically.

“We should treat and care for all those who are sick and need help, and we should not do anything that can lead to illnesses and difficulties,” he adds.

“We must always try to do what god wants us to do, in our relationship with him and in our relationship with fellow human beings,” says Shahbaz, who belongs to one of the Christian communities in Islamabad.

“Today, Christians all over the world are celebrating Easter Sunday. It is a joyful day, but it is also a serious day of reflection when we should ‘turn around’, as Jesus said, and do what is right. Sometimes, what we human beings do, leads to the suffering of other people,” says Father Sarfaz Simon at the Bishops House in Rawalpindi.

“The wars and conflicts in our region have led to decades of suffering of people. Pakistan has housed millions of Afghan refugees. We did what we could to help them, I believe. However, maybe the causes behind the exodus of refugees could have been avoided,” says Father Simon.

“Peshawar and the surrounding areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) still have more than a million Afghan refugees. In Islamabad, we also have tens of thousands of refugees. We have informal settlements on the outskirts of Islamabad, near Rawalpindi. Most residents are Pakistanis, but many are also Afghan refugees. This settlement in I-10 has been a worry to the authorities due to security reasons, among other things. The owners of the centrally located land want to develop it. This week some of the ramshackle houses close to the roadside were demolished,” explains Muhammad Abbas Khan of the Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CCAR) in Islamabad.

“It is a difficult decision to move such shanty towns. Now the case is in the court, where the final decision will be made. After that, everyone has to obey by the law. The refugees are free to move to camps in KPK or live anywhere else.”

He adds that over the several decades that Pakistan has housed Afghan refugees, the international community has only helped the camp refugees, not those who live in the cities. The poor Pakistanis in refugee-hosting areas have also not received much real help, he claimed.

Khan said that the urban refugees have always been in larger numbers than those in the camps, but the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) gives minimal assistance to them, as a matter of global policy. The government tries to do what it can, but the international community has a moral responsibility to help the urban refugees too, he added.

“We are hopefully now about the end of the war in Afghanistan and the normalisation of the situation of the refugees. We are focusing on finding dignified durable solutions, and we will give attention and assistance also to the urban refugees,” says Abbas Khan of CCAR.

While talking about the likelihood of peace in Afghanistan and suitable conditions for the return of the refugees, he said, “I believe it will take time, and special incentives are needed,” adding that the elections in Afghanistan seem to have gone well, and that is one step in the right direction.

“I am quite optimistic regarding Afghanistan’s future,” said Cyrill Nunn, the German ambassador to Pakistan, this week, speaking at a conference organised by the Centre for Strategic Studies, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenaur Foundation, in Islamabad.

The chairman of the organising committee of the conference, former ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi, also expressed optimism for Afghanistan’s future and for a better collaboration in the region, including all the concerned countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, China, India and the Central Asian countries.

At the conference, the focus was given to security issues, being the basis for other activities, but trade and other collaboration issues were also discussed.

“It is important to find durable solutions for the refugees,” said the former ambassador, when the sun was about to set at the end of a successful conference at one of Islamabad’s hotels.

“The conference room was not as sacred as the church in Rawalpindi, but the deliberations were equally important,” said a smiling foreign participant, who had attended both events. She added that it is only through good will, knowledge and skills that we can reach results in our efforts.

“And I should add, prayers, too,” she said. “We need that in all charitable, humanitarian and development work, not only today, on Easters Sunday, but every day.”