Traditional and Modern Approaches to Peacebuilding:
Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Afghan refugees began coming to Pakistan after Russian forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The figure reached 3.2 million (the world's largest refugee population) in 1982. The Afghan government and Russian troops tried their best to seal the 1200-mile boundary with 333 exit points, but they were unsuccessful. The majority of the refugees came from rural areas throughout most of the twenty-nine provinces, bringing with them different social, tribal, linguistic and ethnic traditions.

Most of the refugees began new lives on the host soil of Pakistan with strongly held religious, traditional and tribal beliefs, as well as closed social systems that found modern/scientific knowledge repulsive. The educated class took refuge in Western countries, including America. Pakistani life style and environment was favorable to those refugees who came there due to the common religious, traditional, and tribal social values. Pakistan’s attitude of acceptance allowed the refugees to fight for their country's independence. The world community and United Nations sister organizations helped them as much as possible to adjust to life in a foreign land.

Dependency Syndrome

International relief and food operations gave birth to a dependency syndrome within the refugee communities. Realizing the situation, the donor communities and host country began self-help and self-reliance initiatives were started. The other major task was to work for peacebuilding and resolution of the conflict through peaceful means. The war had brought misery and the prevailing circumstances fostered mistrust and misunderstanding among the different refugee groups, as well as with the host country.