8 FMR 13 Afghanistan: conflict and displacement 1978 to 2001 UNHCR/C Shirley by Hiram A Ruiz Jalozai refugee camp, The tragic events of 11 September 2001 and the dead, prompted the exodus of thou- near Peshawar, sands of refugees and gave rise to an Pakistan, 2001 subsequent US-led military action against armed resistance movement. Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and al-Qa’ida thrust Concerned that the communist gov- ernment in Kabul was losing ground, Afghanistan into the international spotlight and in December 1979 the Soviet Union finally placed it on the agenda of senior policy mak- invaded Afghanistan. The civilian population once again faced violence ers worldwide. What the media and policy makers and intimidation and hundreds of thousands more refugees fled discovered was a country ravaged by conflict and Afghanistan. already in the grip of one of the worst humanitarian During the 1980s, new Afghan opposi- crises in the world. tion forces – the mujahideen or holy warriors – grew rapidly, increasing the n fact, Afghanistan has experi- all taken a grave toll on the Afghan intensity of the conflict. In 1981, enced one of the world’s largest people. some 1.5 million Afghans were 3 I refugee crises for more than two refugees; by 1986, this number had decades. Between the Soviet invasion The conflict’s early days increased to nearly five million, most- 4 of Afghanistan in 1979 and the pre- ly in Pakistan and Iran. Most of the sent day, one in four Afghans has The coup that brought a communist Afghan refugees in Pakistan were been a refugee. At the peak of the cri- government to power in Afghanistan ethnic Pashtuns, housed in refugee sis in the late 1980s, there were more in April 1978 ignited the first of a camps established by UNHCR than six million Afghan refugees. series of conflicts that have crippled throughout Pakistan’s two western- When American bombardment began Afghanistan and left an estimated 1.5 most provinces, the North-West 2 in October 2001, 3.6 million Afghans million Afghans dead. Afghanistan's Frontier Province and Baluchistan. remained refugees, mostly in Pakistan largely uneducated, traditional, rural and Iran, while at least 700,000 more population deeply resented and resist- Over the years, the camps evolved were internally displaced.1 Decades of ed the new communist regime. Faced into villages that began to appear ongoing conflict, human rights abuses with widespread opposition, the much like other villages in Pakistan. by both the Taliban and the opposi- regime turned to force. Its violent tac- Many of the refugees carved out rea- tion forces and severe drought have tics left tens of thousands of Afghans sonable and predictable lives, at least FMR 13 Afghanistan: conflict and displacement 1978 to 2001 9 compared to what they could expect Since the Soviet pull-out from Taliban had grown to more than in Afghanistan. Most found at least Afghanistan, however, the West’s 25,000 fighters and controlled most subsistence work in the local econo- interest in the country had faded. of southern and western Afghanistan. my or rented land to cultivate. Some Funding for reconstruction and repa- However, the movement’s strict read- maintained a foothold in both coun- triation, as well as for assistance to ing of an ancient tribal social code tries by living in Pakistan while hiring the large number of refugees who called Pushtunwali was resented by tenant farmers to work their land in remained in Pakistan and Iran, dried the vast majority of Afghans who had Afghanistan. up. Operation Salam soon collapsed. never before been subject to such Although repatriation continued at a restrictions. As the movement headed Afghan refugees in Iran did not bene- brisk pace in 1993, it subsequently north, it was met with increasing fit from similar assistance, however. levelled off. resistance from many of the former In 1979, a revolution put an Islamic mujahideen groups which eventually fundamentalist regime in power in Two factors contributed to the slow- banded together to form the anti- Iran and radical students seized the down in repatriation: inadequate Taliban Northern Alliance. The US embassy, taking dozens of US citi- repatriation assistance and the in- Taliban captured Jalalabad and Kabul zens hostage.5 The US and its allies fighting that erupted between the in late 1996 and Mazar-e-Sharif – the were reluctant to fund programmes in various mujahideen factions that had Northern Alliance’s de facto capital – Iran, even for refugees, and Teheran worked together to oust the Soviets in 1998. did not want Western agencies – includ- and Najibullah. Unable to agree on a ing UNHCR – in Iran. Left largely to political power-sharing arrangement, a writhing nest of petty warlords fend for themselves, most Afghan the mujahideen turned against each refugees in Iran settled in urban cen- other "as each sought to achieve its The fighting for control of northern 7 tres, with little protection, forced to objectives by military means". Afghanistan triggered a new refugee compete with local people for limited Afghanistan became what Afghan exodus. Many of Kabul’s educated employment opportunities. expert Robert Kaplan described as "a élite, including government workers, writhing nest of petty warlords who medical professionals and teachers, The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan fought and negotiated with one anoth- fled to Pakistan. They opposed the 8 proved costly in both lives and expen- er for small chunks of territory". Taliban’s anti-western, fundamentalist diture and sparked political Fighting for control of Kabul left an Islamic stance and the many restric- opposition within the flagging Soviet estimated 50,000 people dead and tions that the Taliban imposed on the Union. In February 1989, Moscow much of the city in ruins. In Kandahar, population. Many members of ethnic withdrew its troops from Afghanistan the largest city in southern Afghanistan, minorities such as the Hazara, fearing and left in power a puppet regime civilians "had little security from discrimination by the Pashtun-led 9 headed by Mohammed Najibullah. murder, rape, looting, or extortion". Taliban, also fled. Additionally, hun- The UN tried to broker a peace agree- dreds of thousands of civilians within ment between Najibullah and the The emergence of the Taliban the region were displaced internally. mujahideen but failed to achieve any During the 1980s and early 1990s, result. In April 1992, the mujahideen The post-Cold War period religious schools called madrassas captured Kabul and killed Najibullah. became popular with Afghan refugee In Pakistan, UNHCR and WFP, faced populations, as they were in many with huge funding shortfalls for their Civil war cases the only form of education and relief activities for Afghan refugees as The mujahideen’s victory triggered an discipline for refugee boys. The well as robbery and threats from local immediate and massive repatriation. schools were funded largely by ultra- warlords, ended food aid to most Between April and December 1992, an conservative groups in Saudi Arabia refugees living in camps in late 1995. estimated 900,000 Afghans returned and conservative Pashtun religious They based their decision – which was home.6 UNHCR said it was the leaders in Pakistan and southern to have a significant long-term impact "largest and fastest repatriation pro- Afghanistan. They taught Koranic both on refugees in Pakistan and the gramme [ever] assisted by UNHCR." study and sacrifice rather than, for government of Pakistan’s attitude The UN established two programmes example, mathematics or literature. towards their presence – on the to assist returning refugees. In The madrassas proved to be ripe results of a survey that indicated that Pakistan, UNHCR offered refugees who breeding grounds for the Taliban a majority of the refugees were self- turned in their refugee ration cards a movement. Students were taught that sufficient or could become set sum of money to use for their the cure for the factional fighting and self-sufficient if necessary. A year transportation home and for initial lawlessness that had taken over the after the cut-off, however, a subse- survival needs in Afghanistan. In country lay in the creation of a strict quent study found that, far from Afghanistan, the UN created Operation Islamic state. The Taliban began what being self-sufficient, many camp Salam to assist returnees through mine was to be a quick takeover of most of refugees "were living at a marginal clearance, health programmes, rehabili- the region of Kandahar in 1994. level of existence, dependent on inter- 10 tation of the water supply, and basic mittent daily labouring work." education. UNHCR also assisted Most Afghans were at first receptive Afghan refugees repatriating from Iran to the Taliban, as they initially The termination of food aid to camp but on a much smaller scale. brought relative peace and stability to residents prompted the exodus of the war-torn nation. By mid-1995, the tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands 10 Afghanistan: conflict and displacement 1978 to 2001 FMR 13 of refugees from the camps to led to increased harassment of Conclusion Pakistani cities. The Pakistani authori- Afghan refugees. Police in Pakistan’s ties blamed the increased number of major cities stopped undocumented The crisis that existed before 11 refugees in the cities for Pakistan’s Afghans and deported many who did September was 24 years in the mak- growing social and economic ills. not pay bribes. In June 1999, police ing. The US intervention initially According to one senior government demolished the stalls of a number of compounded the situation, displacing official, the refugees caused "an Afghan traders at a market in hundreds of thousands more civilians increase in crime, drug addiction and Peshawar and assaulted the traders and disrupting relief efforts.