Taliban Takeover: Fears of Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Afghan refugees in Pakistan have expressed a mixed reaction to the takeover of their country by the Taliban. Some of them are hopeful that the Taliban will bring peace to the war-torn country. Many are worried of the strict implementation of laws and a crackdown on the freedom that women enjoy.. 45-year-old Hassan Khela is cooking a meal for her family of nine. The steam from the kettle further heats her already hot and humid kitchen. She doesn't know what her family will eat tomorrow. Her husband is a laborer and earns a daily wage if he gets work. In the evening he sells potato chips but the small venture is hardly profitable. The family lives in abject poverty in an Afghan refugee settlement in Peshawar, Pakistan. Dirty alleys, clogged sideways with garbage, clothes hanging outside as a covering on the rundown doors is how Hassan Khela’s street looked. Many of her neighbors like her are living with meager incomes. Khela is an Afghan citizen. Nine months ago her son who was an Afghan refugee in Pakistan passed away in an accident. She had to leave her physically disabled brother and elderly mother to come to her grieving husband in Pakistan who is also an Afghan refugee. But after she came here fighting started in Baghlan, her native province, and she couldn't go back. Now that the Taliban have taken over, the family does not want to go back to Afghanistan at all. Even though they are poor, they feel safe here. Whether it was the Soviet invasion in 1979, Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001, or the attacks by the US after 9\11, Afghans have had reason to flee to Pakistan for refuge. The country now hosts more than 3 million Afghan refugees, almost half of them undocumented. Many of the Afghans have spread into different parts of Pakistan. They run their businesses but most of the refugees continue to live in refugee settlements or Worried about loved ones Khela is not the only one worried about meeting her family. An Afghan refugee who did not want to be named also worries for his family and the future of his country. This refugee lives some 150 kilometers away from Peshawar, on the outskirts of Islamabad, in an Afghan refugee settlement. He tells me, ‘’My grandfather and my uncle are there. I worry for them. I think now the schools and colleges in Afghanistan will close because the Taliban does not approve of them. They even beat up those with sticks who go to school or colleges.’’ Even though the Taliban are promising a more moderate approach towards education and women's rights, he doesn't believe it. He says that there are those among the Taliban who don’t know anything about the Quran or Islam, they just beat up poor people. Another Afghan refugee living in the same locality fears that the Taliban could hurt his relatives. He is pessimistic about the future of his country. ‘’Everything is finished in Afghanistan. The Taliban has taken over now - only God knows what will happen in the future,’’ he says. Support for Taliban among Refugees But unlike Khela, some refugees believe that the Taliban will be good for their country. Ali Khan, an Afghan refugee living in an unofficial camp on the outskirts of Islamabad, tells me, ‘’The Islamic Republic that we now have in Afghanistan should control the public. We are thankful that Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Now under the Taliban people should be allowed to work and run their businesses. The Taliban may bring peace.’’ A crowd of approximately twenty adults formed while we were speaking with Mr. Khan. Most of them nodded in agreement as he expressed his thoughts. But Khela can't stop thinking of her disabled brother and mother. They need her care but It will not be easy for them to come to Pakistan. Pakistan is reluctant to accept any influx of Afghan refugees. According to Pakistani officials, they have already fenced more than 90 percent of the 2700 km long border with Afghanistan. The authorities believe this will prevent illegal migration from Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told me that Pakistan has already done enough and cannot shoulder the burden of any more refugees. 

Although there is an element of support towards the Taliban among some Afghan refugees in Pakistan, most of them certainly don't show any willingness to go back to a country whose future at the moment looks bleak.