Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan
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February 2002 Vol. 14, No. 2(G) AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, AND PAKISTAN CLOSED DOOR POLICY: Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and Iran “The bombing was so strong and we were so afraid to leave our homes. We were just like little birds in a cage, with all this noise and destruction going on all around us.” Testimony to Human Rights Watch I. MAP OF REFUGEE A ND IDP CAMPS DISCUSSED IN THE REPORT .................................................................................... 3 II. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 III. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 6 To the Government of Iran:....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 To the Government of Pakistan:............................................................................................................................................................... 7 To UNHCR :................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 To the International Community:............................................................................................................................................................. 8 V. CAUSES OF FLIGHT OF AFGHAN REFUGEES DURING THE U.S.-LED BOMBING CAMPAIGN ........................... 10 Generalized Insecurity in the Countryside and on Roads.................................................................................................................. 10 Fighting Between Anti-Taliban and Taliban Forces........................................................................................................................... 11 Flight from U.S.-Led Bombing Campaign........................................................................................................................................... 11 VI. INTRODUCTION TO REFUGEE PROTECTION IN IRAN AND PAKISTAN.................................................................... 14 VII. REFUGEE PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE IN IRAN........................................................................................................ 15 Background: Governmental Focus on Sending Afghan Refugees Home ...................................................................................... 15 Border Closures and Establishment of Camps inside Afghanistan.................................................................................................. 16 Lack of Registration and Forced Returns from Iran to Afghanistan................................................................................................ 17 Governmental Attitude towards Refugees............................................................................................................................................ 18 Iran’s International Obligations to Refugees ....................................................................................................................................... 19 VIII. REFUGEE PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE IN PAKISTAN ........................................................................................... 19 Pakistan’s Domestic Laws and Policies................................................................................................................................................ 19 Crossing the Border into Pakistan.......................................................................................................................................................... 22 Refugees Seeking to Cross Pakistan’s Northwest Border.............................................................................................................23 Refugees Seeking to Cross Pakistan’s Southwest Border.............................................................................................................24 Problems Stemming from Lack of Legal Status in Pakistan............................................................................................................. 26 Harassment, Extortion, and Imprisonment of Afghan Refugees..................................................................................................27 Urban Sweeps and Forced Returns...................................................................................................................................................28 Protection Problems in Camps ............................................................................................................................................................... 29 Particular Problems Facing Refugee Women ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Particular Problems Facing Refugee Children..................................................................................................................................... 32 Pakistan’s International Obligations to Refugees ............................................................................................................................... 33 IX. REFUGEE RELOCATION................................................................................................................................................................. 34 Assistance Improved ................................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Insecurity in the Tribal Areas ................................................................................................................................................................. 35 Relocation Compelled by Lack of Information, Official Pressure and Destitution...................................................................... 38 Lack of Unbiased, Politically Neutral Information........................................................................................................................38 Problematic Push-factors...................................................................................................................................................................39 X. FEAR OF RETURN TO AFGHANISTAN ....................................................................................................................................... 40 XI. A LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE............................................................................................................................................... 43 XII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................................................ 44 XIII. MISSION STATEMENT .................................................................................................................................................................. 45 2 I. MAP OF REFUGEE AND IDP CAMPS DISCUSSED IN THE REPORT Human Rights Watch 3 3 February 2002, Vol. 14, No. 2(G) II. SUMMARY At least three and a half million Afghans are currently refugees in Pakistan and Iran,1 having been displaced from their homes by more than twenty-two years of civil strife, devastation, and political repression. Recently, thousands more Afghans have entered Pakistan and sought entry to Iran to escape generalized conditions of insecurity, factio nal conflict, and the U.S.-led bombing campaign that began in October 2001. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, many Afghan refugees today fear to return home, recalling the fractious times that characterized the pre-Taliban era in Afghanistan. Some have specific fears linked to their membership in one of Afghanistan’s ethnic groups, or their past experience of living under the control of one of Afghanistan’s many local commanders. Others are traumatized by recent experience and cannot imagine re-starting life or work in a place where travel down a highway can result in extortion or injury either at the hands of bandits, or of security forces ostensibly under the control of the local commander. While these fears make return to Afghanistan a daunting prospect, Afghan refugees are also experiencing increasingly hostile treatment in Iran and Pakistan and pressure to leave.2 Mistreatment at the hands of Pakistani or Iranian law enforcement authorities and violence in refugee camps are just some of the problems Afghan refugees face on a daily basis. This report documents some of the key problems that Afghan refugees now confront. These relate both to the causes of their flight from Afghanistan and their treatment in exile in Pakistan and Iran. III. INTRODUCTION The demise of the Taliban in Afghanistan has not ended one of the world's largest and most prolonged refugee emergencies. While tens of thousands of Afghans chose to return to their home country during each of the first three weeks of January 20023 several thousand others continued to flee, or attempt to flee Afghanistan to escape