Flood of refugees disturbs Pakistanis

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 14

Flood of refugees disturbs Pakistanis

By AFZAL KHAN, a Pakistan journalist who has spent four months touring the Pakistan-Afghani-stan border area.

A year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 1,50v,000 refugees with three million sheep, goats, cows and camels are making Pakistan their permanent home.

In the arid border provinces of the North-West Frontier and Baluchistan, more than £2OO million a year is being spent to fe~’, clothe and shelter them, but there is ho restriction on their employment or move’ ment: to the cool hills in summer and warm plains in vzinter.

As a result, they are eveiy where, competing with the equally poor locals for the scarce forage and water. Local antagonism is growing. In the provincial capitals of Peshawar and Quetta, soaring rents and food prices are being blamed on the richer refugees, while, th; scarcity of manual jobs is being attributed to the enterprise of poorer ones. A thriving black market in relief aid goods through corrupt refugee leaders and Pakistani officials has furthertarnished the image of the Afghan rebels.' I made a 500-mile jouney from inside Afghanistan through Baluchistan and the Frontier, and most of my fellow passengers were Afghan refugees. But they did not talk of Soviet bombings or fierce resistance in the hills. They seemed content to seek a new life in Pakistan. At the border town of Qamruddin Karez in Baluchistan, local government officials were openly sceptical of the guerrilla war efforts and dismissed most of the refugees as “economic opportunists.” “They are taking advantage of our hospitality here,” one said. "I am familiar with many refugee camps in Baluchistan. Very few young men from them go into Afghanistan to fight.” When I mentioned the spirit of Islamic and Pashtun brotherhood (most of the

refugees and the local population belong to the same Pash t o-speaking ethnic group, the officials laughed. “Many of us are poorer than some of these refugees,” one said. Another added: “We c-.i tolerate only so many of them but not this unwarranted deluge.”

It is reasonable to assume that only 25 per cent of the refugees are direct war victims. Another 25 per cent are indirect victims (forced to move because of the destruction of nearby market centres. The remaining 50 p,er cent are the unwelcome “economic opportunists.” Afghan refugees do not, however, see themselves as guests of Pakistan. They believe they have a right to travel across the frontier because this area of Pakistan was part of the Afghan kingdom until 200 years ago. The chilling side to the current confrontation between Afghan refugees and Pakistanis is the possible exploitation of the situation by Leftist elements of the defunct People’s Party of the former Prime - Minister, Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was overthrown and executed by General Zia-ul-Haq, the Pakistani dictator.

A People’s Party member and former student leader told me in Peshawar: “There is already an underground cell financed by Libya and Syria in Kabul. Former army officers loyal to Bhutto are training several hundred saboteurs.” Former Bhutto lieutenants in exile in London, including one of his sons, have been known to make periodic visits to Kabul, while several gun-running members have been arrested in Pakistan.

“The unfortunate part,” the People’s Party member added, “is that some of these hot-headed young revolutionaries may go to any length to exploit civil disorder between refugee and local in Pakistan.” At the same time, Sovietinspired sabotage has al-

ready occurred in the region, presumably through agents among the refugees. The most spectacular was last May, when an entire police post near Peshawar . was demolished by one massive explosion.

Inside Afghanistan, the Soviet forces are trying to pacify the border tribes by non-interference in local af-

fairs and payment of cash subsidies.

Some of the tribes who were fighting wheu I was there last year have ceased doing so this year. If this pattern continues, the border tribes may become increasingly reluctant to allow weapons and food from Pakistan to go to resistance groups inside Afghanistan.

The result may be a possible sealing of the border by the Soviets and the beginning of the end of the guerrilla war.

The Soviets have given clear warnings to Pakistan not to interfere. A borderpost attack by Soviet helicopter gunships in late September ended in the death of the commanding majo~ and another soldier.

This incident prompted General Zia to admit that over 200 violations of Pakistani airspace had taken

place since the Soviet invasion. Since then, there have been other attacks by gunships in hot pursuit of guerrillas. The most recent was in late October, when gunships penetrated 15 miles inside Pakistan to attack a refugee camp. This northern winter may very well seal the fate of the guerrillas in Afghanistan and the eventual future of the refugees in Pakistan. —-

Copyright, London Observer Service.