Afghan refugees turn F-6 children’s park into ‘tent village’

[YaqoobAlam]

I had been to this park few months ago. It was bustling with Afghans. There were elderly men, women, youth and children playing around. But this recent development is shocking. There are tents around the park shelters, playgrounds and on the footpaths.​

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Afghan refugees turn F-6 children’s park into ‘tent village’​

Kashif Abbasi
Published July 18, 2022 - Updated about 14 hours ago

View of tents set up by Afghan refugees in a park in F-6. — White Star

ISLAMABAD: Owing to the negligence of authorities concerned, Afghan refugees have taken over a children park in Islamabad and are living there after pitching tents.​

F-6’s newly-renovated children park has become a makeshift campground for the Afghan refugees mostly belonging to the Hazara community, who fled their country following the takeover of Kabul by Taliban.

Initially, the refugees camped outside the National Press Club and later started living in the red zone near Parliament House. However, police and administration managed to remove them from the high security zone.

The refugees then again established their camps outside the press club. However, those belonging to the Hazara community set up their camps in the children park across the road. Nearly 700 Afghan refugees, most of them women and children, have been sheltering in the park for the last few weeks.

Protesters say they are helpless, cannot return to homeland; CDA to seek local admin, police’s help to get area vacated

“We are living in a public park but we are helpless and shelterless and have no idea where we should go?” said Surya Mosawai, a university graduate from Herat.

She said the refugees had been facing lots of difficulties but no one, including developed countries and other champions of human rights, were paying any heed to their issues.

“Do you think we are living in this park by choice. No. We don’t want to live here but we have no other option. We have been demanding the international community and developed countries, including the United State of America, to provide us citizenship as we can’t go back to our country because of the Taliban,” she said.

Another refugee, Bakar Ahmed, said: “The United Nations High Commission for Refugees should help us.”

He said if developed countries were not ready to accept them, Pakistan should give them asylum.

It may be noted that Pakistan has already been providing shelters to more than 1.3 million Afghan refugees for decades.

Najma Nowrozi, another refugee, said camped life was highly tough as refugees had to go to nearby mosques for using washrooms.

“Even, we are facing shortage of water,” she said and added that some well-off local people had provided them two plastic tanks for storing water. It is a blessing for us but the water is insufficient,” she said, adding: “We are helpless and hopeless.”

Some of the refugees said there was a public toilet near their camps but they had to pay to the operator of the toilet for using it. Similarly, they said, they had to pay to shopkeepers for charging their mobile phones.

The park was recently renovated and restored by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) by spending millions of rupees. However, due to negligence of the civic agency, the same has been taken over by the refugees.

“We are not against refugees, they are our brethren. But we are against setting up of camps in a public park. The CDA and police should remove them from the park,” said Liaquat Khan, a local. Another local resident, Shabbir Ali, said unregulated camps posed a security threat to the locals. He raised questions over the efficiency of the CDA which is the custodian of the public parks.

“These camps should be shifted to some other place as people of the area have been deprived of their right to visit the park as it has been taken over by the refugees,” he said.

When contacted, CDA’s Director General Environment Irfan Niazi told Dawn that he would take up the matter with the capital administration and police to get the park vacated.

He agreed that the park was recently renovated, adding soon it would be vacated for the public.

 

[SQ8]

Ghauri missile has been unleashed on Pakistan since 1979.

At least other migrant communities in Pakistan don’t hate consistently while taking Pakistanis resources.

There is a Muhajireen, there is Ansar and then there is the Afghan

 

[Jango]

There's also another tent village, right behind PTCL HQ, but I think those are the Pakistani Hazaras who are there in protest against Shia persecution...not Afghans.

 

[YaqoobAlam]

Ghauri missile has been unleashed on Pakistan since 1979.

At least other migrant communities in Pakistan don’t hate consistently while taking Pakistanis resources.

There is a Muhajireen, there is Ansar and then there is the Afghan

Sir that is very true!
Have been interacting with them almost on daily basis. Even though generations of them have been born here, they are still not pro-Pakistan.

Pakistani citizenship is something they have anguish about since they are not registered as Pakistani citizens. Afghanistan is the only country they consider their own.

 

[tman786]

Disgraceful failure of leadership

 

[TNT]

Ghauri missile has been unleashed on Pakistan since 1979.

At least other migrant communities in Pakistan don’t hate consistently while taking Pakistanis resources.

There is a Muhajireen, there is Ansar and then there is the Afghan

Its because mainly Pakistan have been involved in the afghan mess. We made their country a battleground, shoved them with religion by making thousands of madrassas and arranging for their funding from rich countries.
Afghans are generally jahil but we see how western countries integrate our jahils into their society and make them productive citizens. We should atleast try that, but i doubt it because we cant even provide work for our own ppl.

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

try this in Bhindia, your bretehren cuntry u haram khors.

 

[Super Falcon]

We are the worst stupid nation in the history of mankind we do which is bad ugly things for ourselves why the hell they are still here in Pakistan we are facing over population problem and these million refugess take huge chunk of our economy

 

[S.Y.A]

Its because mainly Pakistan have been involved in the afghan mess. We made their country a battleground, shoved them with religion by making thousands of madrassas and arranging for their funding from rich countries.
Afghans are generally jahil but we see how western countries integrate our jahils into their society and make them productive citizens. We should atleast try that, but i doubt it because we cant even provide work for our own ppl.

TF are you talking about? was it pakistan that asked dawud to depose the afghan king? was it pakistan or afghanistan that tried to create pashtunistan and supported terrorism in another country? was it pakistan that asked a group of commies to kill dawud? was it pakistan that asked the 1st group of commies to kill and persecute their countrymen, as well as another commie group? was it pakistan that invited soviets into afghanistan? and was it pakistan that killed the 1st group of commies and replaced it with 2nd one?

what pakistan did was to help them fight the soviets when they ran over to our country. what pakistan did was to try and bring all warring factions to table. what pakistan did was to finally have no hopes warring factions and support a new one in hopes of bringing stability to the war torn country.

konsa sasta nasha kartay ho?

 

[Kedikesenfare2]

I don't understand you. You were happy and cheerful when Taliban ran over Afghanistan kicking out the government in Kabul. Now you're angry because Afghan refugees are pouring into Pakistan and changing the country's social, demographic and cultural make up?

With all due respect, do you know how they call people like this?

 

[SecularNationalist]

Most probably all are anti punjabi and anti pakistan.

 

[313ghazi]

Need to deport them all to Europe or back to thier own country.

I don't understand you. You were happy and cheerful when Taliban ran over Afghanistan kicking out the government in Kabul. Now you're angry because Afghan refugees are pouring into Pakistan and changing the country's social, demographic and cultural make up?

With all due respect, do you know how they call people like this?

People with self interest.

I couldn't give a F what the Taliban do in Afghanistan as long as they keep thier sh1t on thier side of the border.

If the previous regime had done the same and not let the country turn into a launching pad for foreign terrorists who attacked Pakistan - we'd have supported them too.

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

Sir that is very true!
Have been interacting with them almost on daily basis. Even though generations of them have been born here, they are still not pro-Pakistan.

Pakistani citizenship is something they have anguish about since they are not registered as Pakistani citizens. Afghanistan is the only country they consider their own.

Anyone who curses Pakistan should immediately be Cannoned back to A-land.there should be a citizen report portal on this one.

 

[Imran Khan]

CDA must be taking money from these

 

[FuturePAF]

Can these refugees be housed alongside the other refugees in one of the camps or found accommodations with the help of some NGO that works to protect vulnerable minorities?

One could ask why this lot are more deserving then any other Afghan refugee, but considering their ethnic and religious minority background, creating a safe harbor for those not a security threat could be useful to Pakistan via a vi Afghanistan and its future stability and utility to transit routes and mining. Bamiyan/Hazarajat are along the route between Kabul and Mazar, through which a proposed rail corridor to Uzbekistan would traverse. No harm fostering the community of Afghan Hazara refugees with an eye towards long term influence and to check Iranian influence on the Afghan Shia/Hazara communities. The Taliban government may last or it may not, and Pakistan should be hedging for all possible outcomes.