Pashtun Refugees Face Discrimination in Pakistan
(AP Photo/Greg Baker) - AP
02 July 2009
by Anai Rhoads
AnaiRhoads.org -- More than two million displaced Pakistanis and ethnic Pashtuns are in dire straits due to escalating fighting in northwestern Pakistan.
Amnesty International (AIUSA) announced Thursday that Pakistan's central and regional governments are not doing enough to resolve the conflict. The displaced masses currently do not have access to aid distributed in official displacement camps, and ethnic Pashtuns are facing further discrimination as they seek assistance.
"As the fighting expands to North and South Waziristan, a displacement crisis that the government had said would last only for weeks looks set to go on for months, with no relief in sight for the millions of displaced people," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director. "To make matters worse, the vast majority of displaced people are living outside the registered camps where aid agencies are distributing shelter, food and water to those in need."
The conditions the people are met with are disorganised, cramped camps. Close to 90 percent of the displaced people are residing within host communities, in already existing slums or abandoned buildings. AIUSA discovered many families sharing one home, where it seemed nearly impossible for the dwelling to provide enough food and clean water for everyone.
"People who lost everything as a result of the fighting are now being treated as second-class citizens in their own country," Zarifi said. "The central and local governments must ensure that all internally displaced Pakistanis, regardless of ethnic group or background, are treated in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and have adequate food, water, shelter, and healthcare."
The World Health Organization is expressing concern over these conditions, stating that there is a significant risk of communicable diseases, especially with the heat and approaching monsoons.
"The Pakistani government has to ensure that the millions of displaced people, and their hosts, get the required assistance," Zarifi said.
The hardest hit is the Sindh province, where local political groups have campaigned against the influx of Pashtuns, claiming that they somehow threaten the area. There are more than 200,000 displaced people who have reached various cities in Sindh, including Sukkhar, Jamshoro and Kotri. They now join the millions of Pashtuns already living in Pakistan's largest city – Karachi.
"All the nationalists of Sindh are against the settlement of displaced people from the NWFP or any other place as Sindhis are being turned into minority in their own province. We are afraid that once these displaced people will come to Sindh and they will not go back and will become a burden on our economy. We will not allow non-Sindhis to occupy the land which belongs to Sindh and Sindhis," said a leader of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, a local group opposing aid to the displaced.
AIUSA has documented approximately two dozen cases where displaced Pashtuns were told that their children could not enter a school without clearance. The families fled abruptly causing them to leave their belongings behind – including all pertinent documentation verifying their identities.
Others were denied access to rental properties and medical care. AIUSA states that the red tape is worse for women, widows and single mothers. This was particularly due to the Taliban control over the northwestern Pakistan. It is said that many women were even barred from receiving national identity documents.
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