“Come in, come in,” Abdul Hameed Alizai slips through the door of a room, the house reserved for welcoming visitors to the Pashtuns. Inside, rugs and cushions embroidered with red, yellow and white threads decorate the floor of the small house made of dried mud. In the center, cups of kahwah, the traditional sweet green tea, a symbol of Pashtun hospitality, garnish a silver platter. “I wish I could speak to you directly in my language [le pachto] to open my heart to you, ”he said, his eyes sparkling.
Arrived in Pakistan as a child, Abdul Hameed Alizai, a malek (elder) lives in Afghan refugee village I-12, located in an outgrowth of Islamabad in Pakistan. Hundreds of mud houses housing some 8,000 refugees are clustered there a few meters from the barbed enclosure of the prestigious University of Management and Technology.
“The living conditions are miserable in the camp, blows the father of the family under his salwar kameez (traditional dress) white. We have no electricity, no sewage system. When it rains, water enters the houses through the roofs, and the dirt streets become impassable. “
Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, followed by four decades of armed conflict that tore the country apart, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled their homelands to seek refuge in neighboring Pakistan.
Some 1.5 million Afghan refugees are officially registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). But an estimated one million more Afghan refugees are on Pakistani soil.
Once housed in tents, refugees have since erected walls and roofs to shelter their hopes for a better life. Some 54 “official” refugee villages – made of earth, mud, tin and tarpaulins – are scattered throughout Pakistan today. Dozens of other “informal” villages have also been built.
Although forgotten by Western concerns, the repercussions in Pakistan of the successive wars in Afghanistan are therefore nothing new. “Afghans have been living in Pakistan for 40 years. They share the same language, the same culture. These traditional ties between the two countries have helped the two communities live together, ”said Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR.
But this cohabitation between the two brother countries remains no less difficult. “We have no rights, denounces Abdul Hameed Alizai. We cannot get Pakistani citizenship, not even our children born here. We are forbidden to open a bank account or become homeowners. “
Left to fend for themselves
While the fragrant tea still smokes, another malek, turban on the head, makes its entry into the room. “I participated in the jihad against the Soviets,” Abdul Jabbar Yousafzai proudly recounts, pointing to a scar on his abdomen. I was injured by a rocket. “
The maleks are seven in number in Camp I-12. They are the ones who settle the conflicts in the village, left without police surveillance. They are also the ones who maintain links – or rather try to solve problems – with the Pakistani authorities in the hope of improving the quality of life of residents.
“The UNCHR is not helping us,” Abdul Jabbar Yousafzai laments, shouting a tasbah, a sort of Muslim rosary. A few non-governmental organizations used to help us, but they all stopped supporting us. “
Information confirmed by Babar Baloch of the UNHCR. “It is very difficult to offer services in the informal settlements that have not been established in collaboration with the Pakistani government,” he explains. But we still remain in contact with these villages, such as I-12. The life of these refugees is a daily struggle. “
In the bumpy streets of the camp, little girls in colorful dresses and sun-kissed complexions run through the rubbish littering the ground. Further on, children sit on the edge of a trench serving as a sewer to share a meal in a large pot.
“The children do not go to school,” indicates Abdul Hameed Alizai who accompanies The duty in his visit. We cannot take them, since we leave early in the morning to work in the market. And if the children don’t come and help us, we won’t have enough money to live on. “
A few strides away, Nazar Khan, 36, runs a small business in essential goods. “I would like to educate my 13-year-old son,” says the father of six. But I absolutely need him to help me in my store. “
In front of his stall filled with food, sweets and children’s games, the man says he does not plan to return to Afghanistan. “I was born here in Pakistan. I feel like I am nowhere in this village, but at least I am in a peaceful country. “
A feeling that seems to be widely shared in the streets of I-12 village, where life and misery are intertwined in an inextricable knot. “My life is here, even if it is a miserable life in mud houses,” says Raheeullah, 30 years old and father of five children. “If peace is established in Afghanistan for good, we may go back. But I was born here, it will be difficult to leave. “
Access denied
The pouring rain has just stopped, a boy rakes up the rubbish blocking the makeshift ditch dug at the entrance to Khazana camp, located in Peshawar, 180 kilometers north-west of Islamabad and about sixty kilometers from the Afghan border.
Impossible however for The duty to visit this other refugee village. The Pakistani authorities are denying us access. “You are our guests. We want you in. But they block us. We can only offer you tea at the entrance ”, laments Taj Muhammad, a malek de Khazana.
“We live like prisoners, Nasser Adil comes to life at his side, another malek, also a Pashtun poet. They prevent us from speaking openly. This tension is hopeless for us. “
In Khazana, nearly 5,000 Afghans live in dried mud houses. “There is no electricity, no drinking water, no streets to speak of. The children suffer from hepatitis, typhoid, intestinal ailments ”, the two are sorry. maleks.
In the streets of Peshawar as elsewhere, Afghans are stigmatized, often arrested by the police, despairs Nasser Adil. “We have no rights. We are considered third-class citizens. “
“Refugee is the word for all problems”, he illustrates.
Generous hosts
Despite this imperfect relationship, Pakistan and Iran have been generous hosts for the past four decades, says Babar Baloch.
About 90% of Afghan refugees have found a home in one or the other of these two countries bordering Afghanistan, although they are grappling with precarious economic situations. “These two countries are experiencing their own challenges. And we have not seen the international community get involved in offering the support that Pakistan and Iran need, in particular to develop their infrastructures ”, underlines the spokesperson.
On the eve of the outbreak of a possible new Afghan migration crisis, other countries must stand up, emphasizes Babar Baloch. “We cannot ask two countries to take this responsibility alone. It is a global responsibility that must be shared. “
With Rafitullah Orazkai
This report was partly funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund –The duty.
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Reference-feedproxy.google.com