KABUL, August 14 (Online): "Our life in Pakistan was much better than at home. My father worked daily and earned a honorable livelihood there to feed us properly but here we mostly eat a loaf of bread and tea," said a nine-year old Afghan returnee girl Hajira.
Attired in tattered clothes and with a grimy face, the innocent Hajira was dreaming better life for her family into her father's income.
"If my father finds a permanent job then we could have better food, better dress, better accommodation and better school," she said at the compound of her decaying camp.
The poor girl was in the second grade in school when her family returned home from a refugee camp in Pakistan three years ago but now she is sitting in the first grade under a tented school situated in the premises of the shabby camp.
As a reminder of the senseless war in Afghanistan, the camp consists of two badly damaged and bullet-riddled government buildings in the southwest of Afghan capital, housing over 200 destitute families since late last year.
Over 1,000 individuals including men, women and children have been passing time in the two four-story buildings without electricity and running water, demanding the government end their misery.
This segment is part of over 3.3 million Afghans refugees, who have returned from Pakistan and Iran over the past three and a half years with majority of whom preferred to stay in the capital of Kabul in dilapidated houses with hope to win government assistance.
While the foreign aid-dependent Afghan government has yet to provide shelter to millions of destitute and displaced Afghans, the recent decision of Pakistan to shut down more refugee camps would further add to the multi-faceted challenges of the establishment here.
Islamabad announced week ago to close down two refugee camps in Bajaur and Karam agency near Afghan border besides asking Afghans living in the capital and Rawalpindi to return home or shift to other refugee camps.
Under the decision, refugee dwellings in Bajaur and Karam agency should vacate the camps by Aug. 31 while deadline for communities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi is Sept. 15.
Refugees request Pakistan to extend the deadline for another year while Islamabad termed it a unilateral decision based on security reasons and stressed for its implementation.
The worry caused by the decision in the cash-stripped Afghan administration is tangible as authorities want Pakistan to respect international norms on refugees and the tripartite agreement singed by Kabul, Islamabad and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Over 3 million Afghan refugees, according to UNHCR's spokesman Mohammad Nadir Farhad, are still living in Pakistan while one third of the total are in Iran awaiting expulsion.
"We are in contact with the Pakistani government and favor the voluntary repatriation of refugees, hoping Pakistan to respect the international laws in this regard," presidential spokesman Mohammed Karim Rahimi said.
Under the tripartite accord, 400,000 Afghan refugees were supposed to be voluntarily repatriated with UNHCR assistance to their homeland annually.
"Definitely, the influx of 300,000 to 400,000 returnees and their housing is a tremendous challenge for the government, but we have no other choice but to accept them," said Deputy Minister for Refugees Affairs Naeem Ghiasi.
However, he said he hoped that Pakistan would not resort to forcible repatriation of refugees.
To solve returnees' shelter problem, the Afghan government would build 28 Refugees Township with international support over the next three years across the country, Ghiasi said
"The project, if completed within the stipulated time, will house 500,000 families or some 3 million individuals," he said.
Another main problem of returnees at home is high rate of unemployment as the majority of illiterate and unskilled returnees are unable to find jobs in the post-conflict country where no giant project has been launched to absorb workers.
"I worked as a daily wager in Pakistan and lead a happy and honorable life with my family, but here, life is horrible for me as I cannot work 10 days a month to feed my children properly," complained Jamshid, 48.
"It was my earnest hope to live in a prosperous Afghanistan but continued failure to find a source of income has been disappointing me. So if the status quo continues, I would have no choice but to re-migrate either to Pakistan or Iran," the father of 10 offspring said.
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