Please consult the attached letter, which was faxed to the DIRB on 3 January 1996 by the High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Ottawa, for brief information on the status accorded Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This letter was written in response to questions by the DIRB on the temporary refugee status given Afghan refugees in Pakistan by the Pakistani government, on the rights and obligations they have while in Pakistan, and on whether they are issued any official documentation or identity cards.

The general information on Afghan refugees provided below may also be of interest.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan had over 3.3 million Afghan refugees in July 1990, 1.6 million in December 1992, and 1.4 million in December 1993 (14 Jan. 1994). Two sources mention that after the fall of the Najibullah government in Afghanistan in April 1992, repatriation of Afghans proceeded rapidly throughout the summer 1992, then slowed as fighting broke out among the mujahideen forces (Stokke 1994, 333; AFP 25 Sept. 1995). A 5 May 1995 Inter Press Service (IPS) report refers to official Pakistani statistics of 2 million registered Afghan refugees and 500,000 unregistered. For more information on the statistics concerning Afghan refugees in Pakistan from 1990 to the present, please consult the World Refugee Survey attachments.

Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol (Stokke 1994, 293; USCR 1995, 106; UNHCR 14 Jan. 1994). Consequently, the official Pakistan delegation stated before the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva in October 1994 that Pakistan "cannot accept the idea of local settlement of refugees for various socio-economic and political reasons" (ibid.).

The Pakistani government has refused UNHCR requests to grant permanent settlement to Afghan refugees, stating that their stay in Pakistan is only temporary (Islamic Republic News Agency 25 Oct. 1994; USCR 1995, 106). In May 1995, the Pakistan government again rejected the UNHCR's proposal of granting permanent residence to the two million Afghan refugees living in the 150 refugee camps throughout the country (IPS 5 May 1995).

In a Moneyclips report dated 1 March 1994, an official of the Afghanistan Consulate-General in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, stated that in the past 13 years, the Pakistani government had not issued passports to Afghan refugees as had been claimed in reports from Islamabad. More currently, the official added that offices of Afghan Refugee Commissioners in Pakistan have been issuing "certificates of identity" to Afghan refugees in order to facilitate their movement inside and outside Pakistan (ibid.). Further information on these identity documents was not provided by the source.

Thousands of Afghan refugees fled into Pakistan during and following the breaking of the January 1994 truce between the allied forces of General Abdul Rashid Dostum and Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and those of President Burhanuddin Rabbani (Reuters 11 Jan. 1994). Based on information provided in a UNHCR news briefing, Reuters stated that Pakistan has been maintaining "an open-door policy and granting official refugee status to the Afghans [refugees fleeing to Pakistan]" (ibid.). More precise information, however, on any rights and obligations associated with this status was not provided by the source.

In December 1994, the UNHCR announced that by January 1995 it would reduce its assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan by 40 per cent and that by 30 September 1995 it would end all assistance (IPS 5 May 1995; USCR 1995, 106; UPI 7 Dec. 1994). Following this announcement, the Pakistani government decided to ask the 1.3 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to return to Afghanistan (ibid.).

However, it was reported later that month that the Pakistan government had agreed to provide Afghan refugees residing in the country with almost 5.5 US dollars in assistance for 1995 (Yugoslav Telegraph Service 16 Dec. 1994).

According to the 5 May 1995 IPS article, although Afghan refugees are still being repatriated, more continue to arrive daily. Pakistan's foreign minister Sardar Asif Ahmed Ali was quoted in this IPS article as saying that in order to supervise the "fresh influx" of Afghan refugees, among other things the government has commenced issuing refugees a "special card in which it will be mentioned that Afghans who have entered Pakistan during 1994 will be allowed to stay here temporarily" (ibid.). Further information on this special card is not provided by the source.

Most recently, according to a 25 September 1995 Agence France Presse (AFP) report, the Pakistani government has created a committee to set up a plan for repatriating approximately 1.6 million Afghan refugees.

Please consult the 1995 World Refugee Survey attachment for further information on Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Additional information on these refugees can be found in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 25 September 1995. "Pakistan to Formulate Plan for Repatriating Afghan Refugees." (NEXIS)

High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ottawa. 3 January 1996. Letter faxed to the DIRB.

Inter Press Service (IPS). 5 May 1995. Amir Mir. "Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Face Uncertain Future." (NEXIS)

Islamic Republic News Agency [Tehran, in English]. 25 October 1994. "International Relations; Government Reportedly Tells UN Afghan Refugees May Not Settle Permanently." (BBC Summary 26 Oct. 1994/NEXIS)

Moneyclips [London]. 1 March 1994. Mazhar Hasan Siddiqi. "Afghanistan Envoy Denies Reports that Passports Were Issued by Pakistan." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 11 January 1994. BC Cycle. "U.N. Fears Tens of Thousands May Flee Afghanistan." (NEXIS)

Stokke, Hugo. 1994. "Pakistan," Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1994. Edited by Peter Boehr et al. Oslo: Nordic Human Rights Institute.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 14 January 1994. Public Information (PI) Fact Sheet: Pakistan. (HCR/Country Information Database)

United Press International (UPI). 7 December 1994. BC Cycle. Anwar Iqbal. "Pakistan Asks Afghan Refugees to Leave." (NEXIS)

US Committee for Refugees (USCR). 1995. World Refugees Survey 1995. Washington, DC: USCR.

Yugoslav Telegraph Service [Belgrade, in English]. 14 December 1994. "Humanitarian Aid; Pakistan Announces 5.5m Dollars in Aid for Refugees; UNHCR to Provide 3.5m" (NEXIS)

Attachments

Inter Press Service (IPS). 5 May 1995. Amir Mir. "Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Face Uncertain Future." (NEXIS)

Moneyclips [London]. 1 March 1994. Mazhar Hasan Siddiqi. "Afghanistan Envoy Denies Reports that Passports Were Issued by Pakistan." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 11 January 1994. BC Cycle. "U.N. Fears Tens of Thousands May Flee Afghanistan." (NEXIS)

United Press International (UPI). 7 December 1994. BC Cycle. Anwar Iqbal. "Pakistan Asks Afghan Refugees to Leave." (NEXIS)

US Committee for Refugees (USCR). 1995. World Refugees Survey 1995. Washington, DC: USCR, pp.106-07.

_____. 1994. World Refugee Survey 1994. Washington, DC: USCR, pp. 97-98.

_____. 1993. World Refugee Survey 1993. Washington, DC: USCR, p. 95.

_____. 1992. World Refugee Survey 1992. Washington, DC: USCR, pp. 105-06.

_____. 1991. World Refugee Survey 1991. Washington, DC: USCR, pp. 100-01.