• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%
  • Also available in French

Afghans leaving Jalozai as deadline nears

News Stories, 14 April 2008

© UNHCR/B.Baloch
For now, business continues in the main bazaar in Jalozai refugee village in Pakistan.

JALOZAI, Pakistan, April 14 (UNHCR) – Afghans in Jalozai, Pakistan's largest refugee village, are gradually moving out as it becomes clear that the Tuesday deadline for closure will not change.

Many of the more than 70,000 Afghans in Jalozai, located in Nowshera district of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, had been waiting to see if the closure-based on security concerns raised by the Pakistani government – would be delayed beyond the April 15 deadline. However, that hope has been dashed by repeated reminders by the authorities to vacate Jalozai.

The message is sinking in. "We would have liked to get another extension in our stay in the refugee village. But, as apparent today, the government wants us to move, so now we are ready for it," said Haji Zulfiqar, a refugee in Jalozai. "However it may not be possible for all Afghans to vacate the refugee village in two or three days. It would be a gradual process and we will require an understanding from the authorities and UNHCR."

Abdul Rauf Khan, Pakistan's Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees, has assured UNHCR that Jalozai will be closed in an orderly and peaceful way, and that life-sustaining services such as food, water and electricity will not be stopped until the last Afghan leaves Jalozai. In return, he has asked that the refugees honour their commitment to vacate Jalozai this spring.

Jalozai's Afghans have two options when they leave: To voluntarily repatriate to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance averaging US$100 per person, or to relocate to an existing refugee village in Pakistan.

More than 3,300 Afghans have left Jalozai for Afghanistan since the resumption of repatriation in March this year. The pace of return has increased in the last few days, but the return movement was temporarily suspended on Monday due to a road blockage in Pakistan en route to Afghanistan.

After a recent go-and-see visit to Kot Chandna refugee village in Punjab province, 36 Jalozai families have opted to relocate there. Thousands more have yet to decide where they will go after Jalozai.

"We will continue to work with the government to ensure that the closure process is conducted in safety and dignity," said Guenet Guebre-Christos, UNHCR's representative in Pakistan.

On Monday, the main bazaar in Jalozai was still thriving with business, catering to the needs of refugees and Pakistanis in the surrounding areas.

"These shops that you are seeing here may not be there in a few weeks or days as people will leave and the government will demolish the vacant houses and shops," said Haji Baaz Muhammad, an Afghan elder who recently visited Kabul to make arrangements for his family to return. "We hope our last few days in Pakistan will be spent in a respectful manner so that we don't leave with a bad taste despite Pakistan's hospitality over the last 30 years."

In Jalozai, a historical chapter for Afghan refugees is about to reach an end. The busy bazaar, the mud houses and dusty alleys will soon be saying farewell to its residents, converting the site into a silent levelled ground.

"Remember we are refugees, not permanent residents. This has to end one day. Wish us luck so Afghanistan is peaceful and prosperous for all returning Afghans," said Jalozai resident Abdul Rehman at the UNHCR's Hayatabad Voluntary Repatriation Centre in Peshawar last week.

Since UNHCR started assisting returns to Afghanistan in 2002, more than 3.2 million Afghans have returned home, including over 24,000 so far this year. Currently, Pakistan hosts more than 2 million registered Afghans.

By Babar Baloch in Jalozai, Pakistan

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related Stories

more documents

UNHCR country pages

Revised Supplementary Appeal for UNHCR's Emergency Assistance to Flood-Affected Populations in Pakistan

August 2010

Rebuilding Lives in Afghanistan

With elections scheduled in October, 2004 is a crucial year for the future of Afghanistan, and Afghans are returning to their homeland in record numbers. In the first seven months of 2004 alone, more than half a million returned from exile. In all, more than 3.6 million Afghans have returned since UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme started in 2002.

The UN refugee agency and its partner organisations are working hard to help the returnees rebuild their lives in Afghanistan. Returnees receive a grant to cover basic needs, as well as access to medical facilities, immunisations and landmine awareness training.

UNHCR's housing programme provides tool kits and building supplies for families to build new homes where old ones have been destroyed. The agency also supports the rehabilitation of public buildings as well as programmes to rehabilitate the water supply, vocational training and cash-for-work projects.

Rebuilding Lives in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Rebuilding a War-Torn Country

The cycle of life has started again in Afghanistan as returnees put their shoulders to the wheel to rebuild their war-torn country.

Return is only the first step on Afghanistan's long road to recovery. UNHCR is helping returnees settle back home with repatriation packages, shelter kits, mine-awareness training and vaccination against diseases. Slowly but surely, Afghans across the land are reuniting with loved ones, reconstructing homes, going back to school and resuming work. A new phase in their lives has begun.

Watch the process of return, reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction unfold in Afghanistan through this gallery.

Afghanistan: Rebuilding a War-Torn Country

Home Without Land

Land is hot property in mountainous Afghanistan, and the lack of it is a major reason Afghans in exile do not want to return.

Although landless returnees are eligible for the Afghan government's land allocation scheme, demand far outstrips supply. By the end of 2007, the authorities were developing 14 settlements countrywide. Nearly 300,000 returnee families had applied for land, out of which 61,000 had been selected and 3,400 families had actually moved into the settlements.

Desperate returnees sometimes have to camp in open areas or squat in abandoned buildings. Others occupy disputed land where aid agencies are not allowed to build permanent structures such as wells or schools.

One resilient community planted itself in a desert area called Tangi in eastern Afghanistan. With help from the Afghan private sector and the international community, water, homes, mosques and other facilities have sprouted – proof that the right investment and commitment can turn barren land into the good earth.

Posted on 31 January 2008

Home Without Land

Afghanistan: Mariam's StoryPlay video

Afghanistan: Mariam's Story

Mariam was a refugee in Iran for six years. The widow and mother returned in 2002 and has been internally displaced ever since. Her situation is very uncertain.
Pakistan: Flood Relief Play video

Pakistan: Flood Relief

Floods in Pakistan have ruined crops and destroyed homes. The rains have ended but displaced people will need help for weeks or months to come.
Pakistan: The Floods Return Play video

Pakistan: The Floods Return

Flooding has returned to Pakistan, forcing people to flee their homes for the second year in a row. A year after his wife died in floodwaters, Obhayo Babar is on the move again.