THE Peshawar Electric Supply Company has disconnected the power supply to Afghan refugee camps in the Shamshato area of Peshawar from Sept 19. As a result, people are facing serious problems mainly due to the non-availability of water.... They said that they have been paying power bills under an agreed formula but since June, the power company has been sending inflated monthly bills…. Meanwhile, Pesco says that most of them have not paid bills since June and disconnecting the power supply was a compulsion. In the prevailing situation, the refugees are not ready to pay the bills and are of the view that the implementation of a fresh formula was unjust….

Disconnecting the power supply to consumers who have paid the bills for tube wells does not seem a suitable step .... There is no doubt that the Afghan refugees are our brothers and sisters and Pakistan has been serving them for the past three decades. They, too, have respected the law of our land to a great extent. Now, the power disconnection has caused problems for them and people are compelled to buy water for drinking purposes.

There is no doubt that Pakistan is facing the worst kind of a power crisis and getting electricity at a higher rate. But it is also a fact that the refugees are very poor ... and cannot afford to pay inflated bills. There should not be any disparity in bills on the basis of who is Pakistani or Afghani and the government ought to extend full support to the people living in the camps. Pakistan should continue its assistance to the refugees in order to fulfil the duties of a host. At the very least, Pesco should restore the power supply to the tube wells in the camps... this is a human rights issue. Our government should also take up the issue with UNHCR and donor agencies to get their support in the resolution of the dispute. — (Oct 3)

Selected and translated by Ali Hazrat Bacha.