Life of a refugee in Pakistan

Published August 6, 2014
Pakistani and Afghan refugee children gather by a balloon vendor on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Pakistani and Afghan refugee children gather by a balloon vendor on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee girls walk back to their homes carrying water on their heads that that they collected from a nearby hand pump, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee girls walk back to their homes carrying water on their heads that that they collected from a nearby hand pump, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
An Afghan refugee child swims in a polluted stream to beat the heat, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
An Afghan refugee child swims in a polluted stream to beat the heat, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
A tailor works on a customer's clothing while another sitting on the ground irons on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
A tailor works on a customer's clothing while another sitting on the ground irons on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
A child, whose parents were displaced from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, is held by his father while reaching to catch a balloon to be bought from a vendor selling it on a bicycle, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
A child, whose parents were displaced from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, is held by his father while reaching to catch a balloon to be bought from a vendor selling it on a bicycle, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee children load empty jerricans into a vehicle to be filled with water from another place, as the water pump in their neighborhood is broken, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee children load empty jerricans into a vehicle to be filled with water from another place, as the water pump in their neighborhood is broken, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
An Afghan refugee child stands in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
An Afghan refugee child stands in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee children sit on the ground of an alley selling food, next to a ditch of sewage, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo
Afghan refugee children sit on the ground of an alley selling food, next to a ditch of sewage, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014.—AP Photo

For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the world’s largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting in their country.

Since the 2002 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, some 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their home country, according to the UN’s refugee agency, but thousands of others still live without electricity, running water and other basic services.

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