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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Afghans and the Pakistani economy |
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| muqaddar |
| 08/09/02 at 16:48:13 |
| Pakistan counts cost as Afghans head for home A year ago Pakistani businessmen in Peshawar were organising a campaign against Afghan businesses. Only now is it clear how important the refugees were to the economy, writes Rory McCarthy Friday August 9, 2002 (source: The Guardian) Afghan refugees living in Pakistan have rarely found themselves welcome. Most of them arrived here 23 years ago when the Soviet Red Army invaded their country. For years the west has poured millions of dollars into supporting refugee communities in Pakistan, but in the past decade the money has dried up. Since then the government in Islamabad has grown increasingly unhappy with its 2 million Afghan residents. Senior government ministers openly argued that the refugees were for the most part dishonest and a huge drain on Pakistan's economy. Tough Pakistani laws prevented them from buying property and stopped them integrating with the local community. Refugee camps were bulldozed and some Afghans were simply deported. Immediately after September 11 last year Pakistan prepared itself for an expected influx of many more Afghan refugees and the open hostility towards them reared its ugly head again. In a Guardian interview at the time, Pakistan's minister for the northern areas - where most Afghans have settled - was deeply critical of their contribution to society. "Since they arrived the level of drug smuggling has gone up, the level of crime has gone up and smuggling of guns has gone up," Abbas Sarfaraz Khan said. "Even if 1.5 million Afghans are gainfully employed here that means 1.5 million Pakistani jobs are gone." Following the collapse of the Taliban government Afghans have begun pouring back into their homeland. Pakistan's government will be surprised to learn, however, that their economy has not improved - in fact it has worsened as a result. Around 1.3 million Afghans have returned to their homes from Pakistan. Many were living in the North West Frontier province, where they spoke a common language with the Pakistanis and sometimes had family ties. But now business in the province is in a sharp downturn. Recent research in Pakistan has shown that the carpet making industry, which was beginning to grow well around the northern city of Peshawar, is in crisis. Income from carpet exports has halved in the past year. From a total of 60,000 looms in North West Frontier province, 52,000 have closed. In addition 75% of the skilled carpet and rug weavers have left Pakistan to return home. The property market has slumped and in some cases the price of large plots of land has halved. Private schools, where around 100,000 Afghan children were studying, have also lost business. Bus companies have found their passenger numbers have tumbled. Smaller firms, involved in work such as construction or matchmaking that relied on cheap Afghan labour, are finding it increasingly difficult to survive. A year ago Pakistani businessmen in Peshawar were organising a campaign against Afghan businesses, saying they threatened their commercial future. Only now is it clear just how important the Afghan refugees were to the economy of northern Pakistan. |
| Re: Afghans and the Pakistani economy |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 08/09/02 at 18:45:50 |
| Even if 1.5 million Afghans are gainfully employed here that means 1.5 million Pakistani jobs are gone." sounds like he needs an economics course. If 1.5 million Afghans were gainfully employed, there would be that many more jobs required to service their needs. Economics is not a zero sum game. Employment breeds more employment. |
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