Pakistan Situation of Afghan Refugees
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European Asylum Support Office Pakistan Situation of Afghan refugees Country of Origin Information Report SUPPORT IS OUR MISSION European Asylum Support Office Pakistan Situation of Afghan refugees Country of Origin Information Report May 2020 More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). ISBN 978-92-9485-203-8 doi: 10.2847/38898 © European Asylum Support Office (EASO) 2020 Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, unless otherwise stated. For third-party materials reproduced in this publication, reference is made to the copyrights statements of the respective third parties. Cover photo: © European Union/ECHO/Pierre Prakash, 1 February 2016, Afghan refugees: The path home (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), url EASO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT: PAKISTAN - SITUATION OF AFGHAN REFUGEES — 3 Acknowledgements EASO would like to acknowledge the Belgian Centre for Documentation and Research (Cedoca) in the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, as the drafter of this report. The following national asylum and migration departments reviewed this report: France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Division (DIDR) Germany, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Country Analysis The following external organisations reviewed this report: ACCORD, the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation It must be noted that the review carried out by the mentioned departments, experts or organisations contributes to the overall quality of the report, but it does not necessarily imply their formal endorsement of the final report, which is the full responsibility of EASO. 4 — EASO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT: PAKISTAN - SITUATION OF AFGHAN REFUGEES Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................3 Contents ...................................................................................................................................................4 Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................................6 Glossary and abbreviations .....................................................................................................................7 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 10 Sources ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Quality control .................................................................................................................................. 11 Structure and use of the report ....................................................................................................... 11 Map ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 1. Background ....................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 History of Afghan migration to Pakistan .................................................................................... 13 1.1.1 The Durand Line .................................................................................................................. 13 1.1.2 Overview of Afghan displacement to Pakistan ................................................................... 14 1.2 Legal status, population and demography ................................................................................. 15 1.2.1 Legal status.......................................................................................................................... 15 1.2.2 Figures and place of residence............................................................................................ 17 1.2.3 Demography ........................................................................................................................ 20 1.3 Laws and policies in Pakistan towards Afghan refugees ............................................................ 22 1.3.1 Laws and policies ................................................................................................................ 22 1.3.2 Citizenship ........................................................................................................................... 23 1.3.3 Treatment by the state of Pakistan .................................................................................... 25 1.3.4 General attitude of the Pakistan population towards Afghan refugees ............................ 31 2. Documentation of registered and unregistered Afghan refugees ................................................... 32 2.1 Registered Afghan refugees ....................................................................................................... 32 2.1.1 PoR cardholders .................................................................................................................. 32 2.2 Unregistered Afghan refugees ................................................................................................... 36 2.2.1 Unregistered Afghan refugees ............................................................................................ 36 2.2.2 ACC holders ......................................................................................................................... 36 2.3 Return ......................................................................................................................................... 38 2.3.1 General ................................................................................................................................ 38 2.3.2 Return of registered Afghan refugees ................................................................................ 39 EASO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT: PAKISTAN - SITUATION OF AFGHAN REFUGEES — 5 2.3.3 Return of unregistered Afghan refugees ............................................................................ 42 3. Livelihood .......................................................................................................................................... 43 3.1 Education .................................................................................................................................... 43 3.2 Employment ............................................................................................................................... 45 3.3 Access to services ....................................................................................................................... 46 3.3.1 Access to documents .......................................................................................................... 46 3.3.2 Healthcare ........................................................................................................................... 47 3.3.3 Housing, land and property ................................................................................................ 48 3.3.4 Financial and communications services .............................................................................. 49 3.3.5 Access to legal aid ............................................................................................................... 50 3.4 Marriage ..................................................................................................................................... 50 3.5 Cross-border movement ............................................................................................................ 51 Annex 1: Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 54 Annex 2: Terms of Reference ............................................................................................................... 70 6 — EASO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT: PAKISTAN - SITUATION OF AFGHAN REFUGEES Disclaimer This report was written according to the EASO COI Report Methodology (June 2019).1 The report is based on carefully selected sources of information. All sources used are referenced. To the extent possible and unless otherwise stated, all information presented, except for undisputed or obvious facts, has been cross-checked. The information contained in this report has been researched, evaluated and analysed with utmost care. However, this document does not claim to be exhaustive. If a particular event, person or organisation is not mentioned in the report, this does not mean that the event has not taken place or that the person or organisation does not exist. Furthermore, this report is not conclusive as to the determination or merit of any particular application for international protection. Terminology used should not be regarded as indicative of a particular legal position. ‘Refugee’, ‘risk’ and similar terminology are used as generic terminology and not in the legal sense as applied in the EU Asylum Acquis, the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating