Here,there
Pakistan Khurasan, August - October 2019
Khurasan center is one of the many refugee centers in Peshawar region. Approximately 30 thousands afghani refugees live in this area, which was designated around 40 years ago for refugees coming after the Revolution of April in Afghanistan in 1978, with People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) takeover. Most of the hosts have been here for decades and a lot of new families were born here according to Pashtun culture and habits, an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group inhabiting mainly eastern and southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, in the so called Pashtunistan region. Pakistani Government helped a lot the arriving communities, as at the same time did Ngos. International organizations involvement played a key role in the area for a long time, especially in 2005 when a flood submerged the camps. After Ashraf Ghani the president of Afghanistan ordered Pakistan's government to send back afghan people, their work is not as widespread and effective as before especially in the settlements which are not legally recognized. Very few residents migrated back to their home country, because there the situation didn't change. Afghanistan is still considered very dangerous as most of all refugees area at the border on Afghan side, due to the ongoing “Afghanistan conflict”, in Pashto د افغانستان جنګونه. As a matter of fact, an almost continuous series of massive armed conflicts has afflicted the country since the military coup and following uprisings of 1978. Soviet invasion, civil wars, Taliban insurgency, US and NATO invasions, rise of ISIS: in these forty years the warfare has been declined in various shades, tearing the country apart and leaving a recent history and a present, that deserve proper analysis to understand real reasons and responsibilities for a brutal and bloody existence for all Afghan people.
Khurasan is one of the not legally recognized settlements, the so called informal camps. It’s organized around a stark clearing surrounded by structures built by the hosts themselves, some in lime and brick, others in wood. The frequent rains caused several floods over the years, and the wide spaces have helped managing the aftermath. The residents have to pay the rent for the land, as well as all the materials to build up shelters, basic furniture or anything else they need. No one is in charge of safety, whenever someone got arrested it's common paying bribes to the police to get released.
Besides most young residents report that the Taliban resistance has been constantly striving to recruit them for the armed guerrilla trying to reach them out especially in local schools (madrasa), sometimes by promising work or economic aid, other times with threats and intimidating gestures. Following 2001 US invasion in fact, many Taliban fighters retreated to Pakistan after the fall of their government proclaiming guerrilla war to expel US forces and creating small mobile training camps along the border.
Sulaiman says that “when there are troubles, Allah knows people and their situations”.
He’s about 25 and he has been living his all life here like most of the residents of Khurasan. He managed to study by himself english and now he tries to teach it to the children. He explains that going back or staying is the same. There are no alternatives.
“it is Allah's choice whom he grants easy life and whom he grants life of hardships”
“We arrived here in 1983. We decided to go to Pakistan because of the unexpected wars and incidents. If we didn't take this decision, we could come across the death. Yes we are afghan refugees but we have made pakistani cards since we arrived here. We have no other choice but to try to live.
From our camp more than a half have travelled back to Afghanistan in 2006. The needs of the people are to live in a peaceful area, find a job or start a business, not to pay the rent for lands in order to survive with few money left, go bring pleasure to parents, children, brothers and sisters. First, people want to get out of slavery because now nowhere we can be free.
But most of refugees have nothing neither here nor there so people here preferred to stay in Pakistan just because there is more peace for us now here.
Afghanistan hasn't changed for us, it's our beloved home and it's still not safe for us. If we had money we could have gone to the few safe places in Afghanistan before. We don't have possibilities. Here and there.
After primary school there is no chance of receiving education nor professional skills. Some people try to reach out in exchange of giving help to terroristic activities. When we commit a simple mistake we are blamed as terroristic, teased and forced but Alhamdulillah we respect Pakistan we love Pakistan even though we want to spread peace here. No one help us beside ourselves. we just act like orphans facing illness. we beg the doctors to treat us, but here and there, the one ahead is the one who has more money.
Here and there, the same. People here are wondering if we are waiting for something. But then they wouldn’t know what. People of this camp live in doubt, and when we face an urgent work like taking away a dead body, dealing with sick people so many difficulties arise.
We go on, Inshallah situation will change. I started to record videos for english lessons with the mobile phone, but not everyone can watch them because the connection works poorly. We play baseball and we spend time with children trying to make them happy. The world it's always the same in this piece of land.
