SWABI: Majority of Afghan nationals living in two main refugee camps in Swabi said that they were not ready to go back to their homeland after living for decades in the district.

A meeting was also held in this regard here on Monday with Assistant Deputy Commissioner Islahuddin in the chair to devise a strategy for tackling the issue of repatriating them to their motherland in a peaceful way.

The participants of the meeting were informed that there were 53,000 Afghan refugees in the district. They were told that about 30,000 Afghans were living in Gohati refugee camp and 23,000 in Gandsf camp but various Afghan families were also residing in different villages of the district.

The two camps were established in 1980, soon after former Soviet Union troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979. Numerous Afghans are running their business in the district.

District admin decides to complete process of repatriation in peaceful manner

When asked, Afghan refugees said that those, who were illegally living in the two refugee camps, had already left for Afghanistan and the remaining had legal documents and prepared to stay there due to various reasons.

They told Dawn on condition of anonymity that they had not yet decided to move back. They said that there was no job security in Afghanistan that how they would earn their livelihood. They said that they had no houses in Afghanistan where they could shift their families. They added that they had the only option to stay in Pakistan.

The refugees said that they did not know what arrangements were made for their arrival by Taliban government. “We have no knowledge of the preparations made for us,” said one of them.

They said that they were hesitant to return to their motherland. “Our children are born and grown up here while having sources of livelihood,” said another Afghan. He added that they were confused and did not know how they would live in their motherland, but one thing was clear that they would experience numerous problems there.

So far no one has left for Afghanistan from Swabi, though they know that government of Pakistan has already started action against illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, the district administration decided that the policy announced by the government about repatriation of refugees would be implemented in letter and spirit and its top priority would be completing the entire process in a peaceful manner.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2025