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News Stories, 30 April 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, April 30 (UNHCR)– A Pakistan-produced TV programme on Afghan refugees has opened the eyes of both locals and refugees to what life is like in exile.
Titled "Kadwal Jowand" ("The Life of Refugees" in Pashto, a common language along the Pakistan-Afghan border), the weekly half-hour programme was produced by AVT Khyber station and recently ended its highly successful run.
"Refugees have been living in Pakistan for almost three decades, therefore we at AVT Khyber thought that it would be a good idea to do a programme on their lives," said Nauman Ali Khan, the show's young and energetic producer-host. "The majority of the Afghans are of Pashtun ethnicity and we wanted to know how they live, what they do and what issues they face. The aim was to focus on their problems so that something could be done to help them if possible."
The Khyber team visited different refugee settlements in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and interviewed many Afghan refugees, who responded overwhelmingly and shared their problems with no hesitation.
"We used to wait anxiously for this programme," said Jan Muhammad, a 50-year-old Afghan refugee who works as a street vendor and has been living in Pakistan for more than two decades. "I used to enjoy the programme so much that I would watch it again in the repeat telecast."
He added, "It not only highlighted the problems faced by the refugees but also showed our traditions, food, culture and how we celebrate our weddings. I am grateful that Pakistani media is giving so much attention to us."
The show is equally popular among young and female Afghans. "We live in the city and therefore do not have any idea about the lives of refugees living in camps. This programme gave us the opportunity to have an insight into that," said Shukria, a young Afghan teacher.
Pakistanis, too, tuned in regularly. "The programme was the first ever attempt by a local TV channel to highlight the living conditions of Afghan refugees living in the various rural and urban settlements of Pakistan. It helped the local population to have a better understanding of the refugees' problems," said Bashir Ahmad, a Pakistani who works in UNHCR's Protection section in Peshawar.
Host Khan is satisfied with the results: "The response of the Afghans has been great. Now wherever our team goes, we are recognized and welcomed. This idea could not be materialized without the assistance or approval of high management. We have many new ideas and hopefully we will be launching other programmes as well."
AVT Khyber is currently airing a programme called "Afghanistan Ghag", or "Voice of Afghanistan". It is filmed in Afghanistan and focuses on the problems faced by Afghans living in their homeland.
Pakistan is host to more than 2 million registered Afghans, nearly two-thirds of them in NWFP. The majority are ethnic Pashtuns who speak Pashto. Less than half of the registered Afghan population lives in refugee villages where UNHCR supports primary education, basic health care and water and sanitation facilities.
By Rabia Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan
In the six months since some 150 families returned from Pakistan's Jalozai refugee village, they have faced land problems and ethnic tensions. Today, however, they face the prospect of spending a bitter winter in northern Afghanistan with little more for shelter than canvas tents.
After 23 years of exile in Pakistan, Qayum and his family returned home to northern Afghanistan earlier this year ago after negotiating to buy land in Sholgara district. But a local tribe refused to let Qayum and his neighbours unload their trucks. The provincial authorities moved them to their current site at Mohajir Qeshlaq. The government has promised Qayum and his neighbours land, but until individual plots can be demarcated and distributed, nobody can build. This means that the entire returnee village – some 150 families – lives under canvas. As the weather turns cold, the prospect of spending an Afghan winter in a tent becomes reality. Returnees also face a food shortage, insufficient water and lack of livelihood opportunities.
In an effort to help, UNHCR will provide supplies to Qayum and his community through the winter. Once the land issue is resolved, the agency will also dig wells and provide shelter assistance to the most vulnerable families at Mohajir Qeshlaq. But it will take more to turn this makeshift settlement into something they can call home.
For over a quarter of a century, Afghanistan has been devastated by conflict and civil strife, with some 8 million people uprooted internally and in neighbouring countries. The overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 resulted in one of the largest and most successful return operations in history.
Seven years on, more than 5 million Afghan refugees have returned - increasing Afghanistan's population by an estimated 20 percent.The large majority have gone back to their areas of origin. However, some recent returnees are facing more difficulties as the country's absorption capacity reaches its limits in some areas. Last year, some Afghans returned before they were ready or able to successfully reintegrate due to the closure of refugee villages as well as the deteriorating conditions in Pakistan. In consequence, 30,000 Afghan refugees returned to further displacement in their homeland, unable to return to their villages due to conflict, lack of land, shelter materials, basic services and job opportunities. These challenges have been compounded elsewhere across the country by food insecurity and severe drought.
UNHCR and the Afghan Foreign Ministry highlighted the requirements for sustainable refugee return and reintegration at an international conference in Kabul in November 2008. The donor community welcomed the inclusion of refugee reintegration within the government's five-year national development strategy and the emphasis on land, shelter, water, sanitation, education, health care and livelihoods. It is anticipated that repatriation and reintegration will become more challenging in future.
More than 1.5 million people flee their homes in North-West Pakistan.
Fighting between the army and Taliban militants in and around the Swat Valley in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province has displaced more than 1.5 million people since the beginning of May. Some of the displaced are being sheltered in camps set up by the government and supplied by UNHCR. Others - the majority, in fact - are staying in public buildings, such as schools, or with friends and extended family members. Living conditions are harsh. With the onset of summer, rising temperatures are contributing to a range of ailments, especially for villagers from Swat accustomed to a cooler climate. Pakistan's displacement crisis has triggered an outpouring of generosity at home. UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres is urging a "massive" assistance effort from abroad as well.
