Country with a Large Refugee - Afganistan - Essay Example

? Case Report on country with a large refugee II Table of Contents What were the reasons for political unrest in Afghanistan that caused them to flee to neighboring countries--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 What are the possible psychosocial and mental effects on the refugee communities---------------8 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 Works Cited--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 Case Report on country with a large refugee II A refugee is a person who “owing to well-founded fear of being prosecuted for reasons of race, nationality membership of a particular social group or political opinion outside his country of original inhabitance is unable to return to it” (Human rights commission, 2009, p.1). During the 1980s and the 1990s “Afghanistan produced more refugees than any other country”, Matthew J. Gibney (p.1). Moreover, political conflicts, destruction, and social unrest showered refugees nowhere but primarily in Pakistan and Iran. By doing this the Afghans not only brought mistrust on themselves but carried their war into other lands and created unrest there too. Since then, Pakistan, Iran nor Afghanistan has seen a silver lining in the cloud. Researchers agree that Afghanistan had no better choices than Pakistan or Iran to flee to, but many variable views can be gathered on the following questions: What were the reasons for political unrest in Afghanistan that caused them to flee to neighboring countries? What are the possible psychosocial and mental effects on the refugee communities? This research will mainly focus on answering these five questions in detail, giving evidences and providing conclusions. What were the reasons for political unrest in Afghanistan that caused them to flee to neighboring countries? As Afghanistan is limited by topographical and ethnic divisions, by the end of 19th century, the British and Russians acknowledged the importance of the weak country, acting as a buffer between them. This was the reason why the finalizing of its borders, in 1890’s raised the concerns of London and Moscow. So the Iron Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, had to seek help of British subsides. This pattern continued, with little variations, till 1978. Then America replaced Britain as leader of the West after World War II. The two giants of the age continued to interpolate Afghanistan, which was both profitable and at the same time, risky for it. None of them wanted a war in Central Asia, and so their agreements maintained Afghanistan’s territorial integrity. In order to do so, the Soviets and US paid for its internal security and economic development, as Afghanistan was unable to do so by itself. Hence, this scenario not only shows the disadvantage of Afghanistan acting as a buffer-state, but also the profit it was getting by doing so. Unfortunately, this scenario ended with the Marxist Coup of April 1978 as Afghanistan went from the buffer state to the Cold-War front line. Now only the Soviets had their interest left in the country, so it was only they who provided money and offered guarantees. The Soviets secretly encouraged and financed Afghan communists from before the formation of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) until the party unexpectedly came to power through a military coup on 27 April 1978. USSR, without much evidence, fueled the fire by sending advisors for helping PDPA give control back to Nur Muhammad Taraki. When this help was resisted by the masses, Moscow retaliated by sending in military men who started commanding the Afghans forces unofficially. This is how it all started, what we know today as the Invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. Their era however ended in the poor country when the Mujahidin, who had fought the Soviet Union took control of Kabul on 28 April 1992. The fighting between the mujahidin and the government forces continued until April 1992, when the rebels overthrew the government.  Even after the overthrow, small gropus kept fighting over power. Finally a few of them decided to form an interim government. Then came the brutal era Taliban, in which Afghanistan went through its worst phase. The Taliban had risen to power in the mid 1990’s as a result of the anarchy and warlordism after the withdrawal of Soviet’s forces. The Taliban were mostly trained in the Pakistani Muslim-extremists camps and madaras, and were mostly Pakhtoon.  In 1994, Talibans snatched Kandahar from its ruler and proceeded to capture Kabul in 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley. The invasion of Soviet in Afghanistan caused more than 6million to enter Pakistan and Iran (Matthew J. Gibney, p.1). The reason that led to their induction into these countries where military insurgency, triggered by the Soviets’. The Karmal regime sought to get rid of all the Afghan forces so that they may not be able to operate from within the masses where they operated from before. So the soviet’s pushed back the borders onto the afghan territory. Bombs and antipersonnel mines where used to intimidate the masses who were feared of aiding the Mujahids (a military revolutionist group of patriots of Afghanistan). The Soviet attempt to terrorize and overcome the Afghans was at times “particularly brutal, including the alleged use of torture and collective punishment” (Rhoda Margesson, 2007, p.5). The Soviet Union planted an estimate of nearly “30 million mines” (Larry P. Goodson p.5) throughout the country. Later, in 1995, Kabul fell to fighting these Mujahedeen’s for control of the capital and the surrounding area. Afghans had been effected with conflicts for nothing less than 25 years. The Soviet occupation in the1980’s and the power struggles after the fall of communism in 1992 devastated the country. In1994 the Taliban movement emerged. Taliban’s spread throughout Afghanistan and had around two-thirds of Afghanistan in their hands. Talibans completely changed the face of social norms in Afghanistan. Ethnic minorities like Tajik and Hazara) were now tried and prosecuted for various reasons. Even women were forced to side-step from all work-forces and walks of life. Since the decrees of the Taliban came into e?ect, women have been required to stay within the home, to be out of male view, and wearing a full-body covering called a burqa. Men were prosecuted for short sporting beards. These prosecutions were administered in the form of public beatings. Even children were help responsible for such petty crimes as kite-flying. All these acts show a clear division of path from the past norms that prevailed in Afghanistan. And they can easily be blamed for the change in the public spirit of Afghanistan. About 50,000 women weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a Mehram. This list included even those women who had to support their families for their living. Talibans used Islam as a cover to conjure up their own set of false Islamic rules and forced women into slavery and oppression. Women were repeatedly beaten, forced to beg, marry, separate from their husbands, become prostitutes, and sexually harassed. In the Taliban’s regime women, especially war-widows were not allowed to work at all. So many of them were forced into prostitution, and live in brothels, all of which were, sadly sheltered by the Talibans. What are the possible psychosocial and mental effects on the refugee communities? Every region of Afghanistan and every Afghani have been affected by the widespread destruction caused by the war. Larry P. Goodson says that the countryside had also been completely ruined. Refugees had mistrust labeled onto them due to Taliban’s. They now had lost many of the benefits that they had enjoyed before, for example their ability to work in Iran. In 1999, mobs in Iran and Pakistan had started demanding for the repatriation of the refugees. This brought on attacks from refugees which, in some cases, resulted in dead afghan refugees. Afghan refugees gathered in makeshift camps, in barren fields outside the cities. Even after the repatriation of the Afghans, many who returned found their homes in distraught and ruins. These people were highly dependent on international aid, which now came scarcely. From the point of view of refugee protection, an important, when refugees were interviewed they claimed to have lack of security, both in and outside Pakistan. Around 82 % of Afghans did not want to go back to Afghanistan, citing lack of security, shelter and livelihood (human rights commission of Pakistan, 2009, p 11) Afghans were regularly harassed, extorted, and detained in lock-ups by the police. Ignorance on the part of Pakistan’s legal practitioners often left Afghans vulnerable to the miscarriage of justice when their cases were dealt in the local criminal justice system. The governments of Pakistan and Iran decided to issue registered ID cards to the refugees, as a way to make them feel more secure and safe inside Pakistan. They claimed that it would not be possible for authorities of anyone to deprive them of their rights, including reasonable wages. This would also assist the authorities to keep a better check on the number of refugees in Pakistan or Iran. The refugees would then be easily counted, number and listed. This would prove easier than scanning the whole community or country. This registration system was not very well known throughout Pakistan, so the Afghans were always in danger of harassment from the authorities who would also sometimes deport them. The Afghans faced various problems in the registration process like: Lack of guidance Transport Translators Female registration Women photographers Unsupportive registration staff Problems with technology Bribery, corruption overcrowding In camps children were reported to have lack of money to buy food or vegetables, which forced them to pick out from garbage dumps. They lived in unhygienic conditions and suffered malnutrition. The effects of the migration of Afghans can be categorized into: Conclusion UNHCR would do well to examine more critically the assertion that repatriation is a ‘successful’ solution for resolving retracted refugee situations and to focus more on implementing alternative strategies which UNHCR itself appears to promote as possible interim or even permanent solutions outside its traditional framework (Susanne Schmeidl, p.3) With each passing with such figures and facts in head, it is becoming increasingly difficult to encourage refugees to return to Afghanistan voluntarily. The few who did return, returned quiet a few years back and they claim that they had reasonable ties will Afghanistan back then. After this many number of years, spent as refugees, almost all of them soar-heartedly say that almost all links have been cut off and now it will be extremely difficult to go back and start afresh. Works Cited Human rights commission of Pakistan (2009) Mathew J. Gibney and Randell Hansen (2005) Immigration and asylum Rhoda Margesson (2007) Afghan Refugees: Current Status and Future Prospects Stephen john Stedman and Fred tanner (2205) Refugee manipulation: war, politics, and the abuse of human suffering Susanne Schmeidl .(2008). The News (2011) Bodies formed for repatriation of Afghan refugees Abdur Raziq (2009) Overstay of Afghan Refugees in Pakistan http://www.groundreport.com/Politics/Overstay-of-Afghan-Refugees-in-Pakistan/2906867 Imran Chaudary (March, 2011). Daily Times. 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