SWABI: The Afghan refugees living here have said they have no plans to return to their own country due to the prevailing uncertainty despite the formation of the Taliban government in Kabul.

During a visit by Dawn to two refugee camps, they said they couldn’t leave Pakistan until peace was completely restored in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

They said the Gohati and Gandaf refugee camps used to have around 60,000 Afghans but the number went up due to the arrival of their relatives and other groups in the current year, especially during the Afghan Taliban’s fight against security forces loyal to the last Ashraf Ghani-led government.

The refugees said after the Kabul takeover by the Afghan Taliban, Islamabad and Kabul had good working relations. They hailed Pakistani government’s recent announcement of Rs5 billion humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, easing of visa restrictions for Afghans, and increase in bilateral trade and said the initiative would boost economic and commercial relations between the two countries.

The refugees, however, said they won’t return to their homeland due to weak economy, lack of jobs, food insecurity, and other issues there despite improvement in the security situation.

“We consider Pakistan to be our second home as we and Pakistanis share common culture, lifestyle, language, and religion,” said Khan Agha in the Gohati refugee camp.

Student of 12th grade Sardar Khan said if he returned to home in Kunar province, he won’t be able to continue education.

The elders in two camps said they were confident that peace would return to Afghanistan and economy would improve, and once that happened, the refugees would go there without hesitation.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2021