SWABI: The Afghans, living in two refugee camps and other areas in Swabi district, are worried about their future following a decision by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet to repatriate them in the aftermath of the Peshawar school attack.

An interaction with Afghan refugees here on Sunday made it clear that they did not know how to cope with the situation. Talking to Dawn, each of them pleaded that his name should not be mentioned.  

They expressed deep anguish over the school attack and termed it an inhuman act, having no parallel in the history. There was need of extensive cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan to tackle the issue of terrorism and provide a peaceful environment to their young generation, they said.

The provincial government decided to repatriate all Afghans from the province in a special cabinet meeting on Thursday after an intelligence report revealed that attack on the army-run school was handled by militant leaders in Afghanistan.

There are two main refugee camps in the district but a number of Afghans have also been living in various other areas. Some of them are running their own businesses.

The Afghans said that several of them were also running their own transport and several others were visiting different villages to sell various commodities. A number of them also work as labourers to earn their livelihood. Some of them are busy in farming.

A number of them were born in Swabi and say that they haven’t paid a single visit to Afghanistan

An Afghan refugee, who lives in Gandaf camp, told Dawn that he knew complete details of their population in the district. “The population of Gohati refugee camp, also known as Baraki camp, is 36,000. Over 22,500 Afghans live in Gandaf camp, making the total strength of Afghans in the two refugee camps 58,500. It is also true that a number of Afghans live in different urban and rural areas,” he said.

A number of Afghans, who were born and grown in the district, said that they did not pay a single visit to Afghanistan. They have adopted the local traditions, culture and language, making it difficult to differentiate them from other residents of the district.

“I was born here in a camp at Gandaf. I could not visit Afghanistan and was grown up here,” said an Afghan, who works with a auto mechanic in one the Topi markets.

Sources said that police had already made it compulsory for the local landlords and house owners that if any outsider, including Afghans, resided with them or in their rented apartments they must have the complete family record and the same could be shared with the police.

“If owner of the house or land makes any mistake he would be responsible for the whole chaos if it is confirmed that the outsider lives with him is involved in crime,” said a police official.

Another official said that they have devised a comprehensive strategy to keep under a tight watch the Afghan refugees activities.  The police wanted to monitor them and maintaining a complete record of all Afghans and their business overtures, he said.

The local people said that if Afghans were repatriated to their homeland it would create a great space of workers.

Published in Dawn December 22th , 2014