Afghanistan becoming unlikely destination for Pakistani job-seekers

Delawar Jan

KABUL: Afghanistan is emerging an unlikely new job market for Pakistanis as the number of the youth who are employed in the war-torn country crossed 100,000, officials here say.

“Around 100,000 Pakistanis are working in Afghanistan as chartered accountants, bankers, teachers, engineers, doctors and labourers,” said Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan. He said the Pakistani workers were preferred for hiring because of their skills and experience. He revealed that $ 2.6 billion official export to the country, which makes it the biggest exporter to Afghanistan, had created 3.5 jobs in Pakistan.

The Pakistanis who work in Kabul suggested that the number of the workers in Afghanistan was well over 100,000. “The Ambassador might be talking of the workers they have official record of. I think a good number of unregistered Pakistanis have also been working in Afghanistan which is in addition to the 100,000 figure,” said Afzal Ahmad, manager at a food company.

The Pakistanis said they had taken up jobs in the war-struck country due to a saturated job market in Pakistan. Many of those interviewed said handsome salaries in Afghanistan had enticed them into seeking a job in the country that has been a theatre of an active war.

However, the number of Afghans who have been getting economic benefits from Pakistan dwarfs the total of Pakistani workers in Afghanistan. Muhammad Sadiq said 56,000 Afghans crossed into Pakistan every day for different needs including jobs. Around three million refugees who have jobs or businesses don’t count in it.

Daud Badshah, a resident of Shergarh, said he was underpaid in Pakistan. “A measly Rs4,000 salary was offered to me by NHA which was insufficient for me to cater to my family,” said Badshah, whose father is a watchman at a factory in Shergarh Town.  

The 26-year-old man, who could study only up to 9th class, works for 14 hours daily (7am-9pm) at a restaurant in Kabul, where he supervises a staff of 35 people but makes good money. “I am getting Rs16,380 (Af.9,000), plus the tip,” he said. “My family tried to stop me from taking up the job in Afghanistan but my poor economic conditions forced me to come here. Four years later, the pressure continues,” he added.  

Badshah’s job encouraged his brother Sardar Badshah, who also came to Afghanistan in search of a job. Now, he gets a salary of 500 US dollars as a cook.

“Afghan police harass us despite that we have visas. They demand bribe from us and misbehave with us. But people here are nice and respectful,” he said.

At the same restaurant, Muhammad Ayaz from Peshawar and Muhammad Ali from Skardu receive Rs23,660 (Af.13,000) and Rs30,940 (Af.17,000), respectively.

Waqar Ahmad came from Peshawar to Kabul in 2007 to find a job. Now, he holds an executive position in a company for the last almost six years and gets an undisclosed ‘handsome’ salary. “The road that winds through the troubled areas into Pakistan is very dangerous,” he said. “I have seen bombs exploding in front of me. I have seen Taliban blocking the road and checking. I have been caught up in crossfire. But thanks God, I have remained unscathed each time,” he said of the threats.

Some say the Afghans sometimes discriminate against them for being Pakistanis due to anti-Pakistan sentiments.

“Once, I was traveling in a taxi in Kabul. The driver demanded my nationality and I revealed. He pulled over the car and forced me to disembark,” said Jawad Anjum, a company employee. He said it was not an isolated incident. “But those Afghans who respect you outnumber the narrow-minded ones,” he added.

Uncertainty about security always plagues Pakistanis. They say any incident could ignite violence against them. “We stay indoors when anti-Pakistan sentiments go up,” Anjum said.

Construction sector is booming and Pakistani workers and materials are playing an important role in it. “Cement, iron bars, sanitary goods and most of the construction material are supplied by Pakistan. Also, Pakistani labourers are employed for being skilled and efficient,” said Muhamamd Rehan Khan, general manager at a construction company.

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Fazlullah's unmolested sanctuaries in Afghanistan to remain unopposed

Delawar Jan

KABUL: The Karzai administration and Nato here hardly give any sign of launching operation against Maulana Fazlullah as his group again came under focus after the recent attack on Malala Yousafzai.

In fact, Afghanistan is in a state of denial about the presence of Fazlullah, a Pakistani Taliban commander who was driven out of Swat Valley in a massive military operation in mid-2009. “We want to assure the Pakistani people that we will not allow any terrorist to use Afghan soil,” said Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi, indicating that no “terrorist” was attacking Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Maulana Fazlullah, Pakistani officials say, has been maintaining sanctuaries in Afghanistan’s Kunar province for the last few years. His group has organised deadly cross-border raids into Upper Dir, Chitral and Lower Dir districts and has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings and targetted attacks against opponents.

Malala Yousafzai, who spoke against his brutalities in Swat, is believed to have been targetted on his behalf and the alleged perpetrator, Attaullah, has reportedly moved to safe havens in Kunar.

When Sediqi was confronted that Fazlullah had been operating from Kunar for the last three years, he said: “Well, there are terrorists living on the Pakistani soil for many, many years.” His answer suggested the Afghanistan government had no intention to move against Fazlullah.

A similar answer came from Foreign Ministry spokesman, Janan Mosazai. “Any comparison between the vast system of sanctuaries, training camps, support system, financial support and the strategic advice that Taliban and other elements receive from Pakistan with a few anti-Pakistan Taliban that might be in Kunar or Nuristan is completely against the fact, unfair, unjust and a statement against the reality in this region,” he said.

Pakistan says governor of Kunar and elements of the Afghan intelligence agencies have been providing support to Maulana Fazlullah. “There are some people in the intelligence at the local level who are supporting them. I don’t think it’s the policy of the Afghan government but there are people in the Afghan government, in the Afghan set-up who do support him because without their total support it will not be possible for the TTP people to move so freely there,” said Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan.

“The governor of Kunar has actually declared jihad against Pakistan Army. So that could be on their loose top. But the fact is when the governor of a province says something like this, we expect the Kabul government that there will be some action against that governor,” he told The News in an interview.

“It’s very clear that they are here. We have confirmed reports that people who raid Pakistan and who get wounded are brought back here and we know the places where they are treated,” he said.

He said the issue had been raised with Afghan government and Isaf headquarters here but both had taken the position that they did not have the capacity to go into Kunar and address this problem.

Dominic Medley, a Nato spokesman in Afghanistan, said they knew “insurgents and terrorists” were moving freely across the border but Afghanistan and Pakistan should fight this “shared fight” together.

“Between Afghanistan and Pakistan and Nato there are regular meetings, diplomacy continues, the tripartite commission, there is coordination at the border-all that must continue to ensure that the security between the two countries is tackled by both countries,” he said in an interview with The News.

He said the UN mandate to Nato to fight terrorists up to the border of Afghanistan was recently renewed. However, when asked why the alliance failed to take action against Fazlullah who has built sanctuaries within the border of Afghanistan, he failed to answer the question. “I don’t know about that particular group. I am sorry. I can’t give an answer on that group. It’s too specific for me to know about that group,” he said.

It was learnt that the US and Nato would have to shift 40 percent of their military assets to eastern Afghanistan to fight Fazlullah and other militants. Therefore, they are not willing to take action against him. The unwillingness and inability of Afghanistan and US and Nato to act against Fazlullah gives him freedom to organise attacks on the border and inside the country, posting serious security threat to Pakistan.

Faheem Dashti, a senior Afghan journalist, said the US had failed in defeating Taliban but succeeded in building security forces for Afghanistan. He said the Afghanistan government and the security forces were too weak to take action against Fazlullah.

Sediqi said Afghanistan considered Fazlullah a terrorist but any action that would be taken against him would be “based on the international rules and regulations.”

The Afghans are complaining about cross-border shelling. “So far more than ten people have been killed and many, many houses destroyed and animals killed and thousands of people displaced because of these rockets,” Sediqi said. He said the reason Pakistan was providing was a weak one. “That means that the Afghan Army should also fire rockets on the other side because all the terrorists are stationed on the other side of the border,” he said.

Janan Mosazai demanded a complete halt to shelling. “The solution is that they (Pakistan) stop it immediately and completely,” he said.

Ambassador Sadiq admitted shells had landed in Afghanistan but no or little casualties had been caused.

Security and economy main concerns for Afghans after 2014

Delawar Jan

KABUL: Afghanistan’s capital Kabul calmly sits among barren mountains, with unexpected but delightful peace in its streets. Tranquility of the Yaftali Street in Share-Naw would allow one to hear warbles of birds, droning of passenger planes and sounds of hammers from an under-construction building. Fear of violence scarcely exists.

Kabul hardly appears to be the capital of a country where around 50 countries led by the US have been fighting the battle-hardened Taliban for the last 12 years. Life seems to be is in full swing in the city as bazaars are abuzz with business activities and roads occupied by vehicles that are crazily driven to the surprise of many. Traffic jams give an idea of rush on the roads.

Construction of multistory commercial buildings on almost every street and elegant townships on the outskirts of the city indicates boom in construction sector. People attend offices and businesses without fear of violence. Even people of other countries, including Pakistan, are finding Kabul as destination for job.

Another event that substantiates the impression that life has returned to normalcy in Kabul is a football match. Under the surveillance balloon that oversees movements in the city, a football stadium erupts in cheers as spectators support their respective teams in the much-hyped and televised Afghanistan Premier League, launched recently.

However, military helicopters clattering over the city and presence of heavy military assets at the airport provide the signs of war in Kabul. Police check-posts at almost every square, blocked roads and embarrassing body search at all important sites reinforce the feeling of being in a war-struck country.

Despite some of the positive signs, Afghans predict a bleak future of the country. The US and its allies have failed to quell Taliban resistance in Afghanistan which unsettles people in Kabul. They fear Taliban could menace the hard-won but fragile peace in the city as foreign combat forces are preparing to leave the country in 2014. The people have no, or little, confidence in the Afghan National Army and police to withstand ferocious Taliban attacks.

“Security situation in the country is poor even the US is in charge of it. Kabul is not Afghanistan. Other provinces have been in grip of violence,” said Abdul Karim Sadiqi, who hails from Kabul. “In my understanding, the situation in Afghanistan will further deteriorate after the US withdrawal,” he added.

Omar Gul, who hails from Maidan Wardag, is also worried about the post-2014 Afghanistan. “I am afraid Afghanistan will see scenes from the past after the foreign forces pull out. Afghan National Army is not capable to hold control over the country which worries me that civil war could again start. And of course peace in Kabul will also be menaced by violence,” he said.

A report of the International Crisis Group last week said the country is plagued by factionalism and is not ready to assume responsibility for security. “There is a real risk that the regime in Kabul could collapse upon NATO’s withdrawal in 2014,” Candace Rondeaux, the ICG’s senior Afghanistan analyst was quoted as saying.

Analysts in Afghanistan predict that 2014 will cause uncertainty in the country as Afghan leaders lack vision for the future. Mujib Mashal, a leading Afghan journalist, said Afghanistan had over 300,000 police and army combined which was enough but the quality was lacking. “About our security forces, the big question is that whether they can sustain, whether they can fight on the ground without the air support from the Americans and coalition forces and whether they can do [operations] on their own,” he said.

He said the Afghan leadership had no clear vision about the country and felt Kabul would not be prepared to take over charge in 2014. “One day we are telling the security forces to kill the Taliban, they are the enemy. The next day we are saying they are our friends, our brothers,” he said. “So soldiers on the ground are confused. You don’t know how clear my mission is. Is this guy my enemy or my brother, my friend,” he added.

Muahammad Sarwar Ahmadzai, who works on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Regional Study Centre of Afghanistan, agrees that security situation would deteriorate but shrugged off concern of civil war as misplaced.  “We had [security] problems before and will continue to have them in future, though we understand they will increase after the US withdrawal. But concerns about a civil war are groundless,” he argued.

Nato and Afghanistan government reject such predictions and assert the Afghan army and police are being trained well and would better fight Taliban than the international troops as they were familiar with the terrain and people.

“Fundamentally, Nato is confident that the army and police in Afghanistan will be capable of doing the job [of undertaking the security responsibilities] after 2014 because we see them growing everyday now in their skills and experience,” said Dominic Medley, a spokesman for the Nato in Afghanistan.

He said the Afghan army had demonstrated skills in major attacks in Kabul where they led the operation to finish the attackers. He added that it was leading major operations around the country which gave alliance members the confidence that they were capable of fighting the Taliban.

He said the international community had invested billions of dollars and so much effort for a shared goal which was a peaceful, secure, prosperous [and] stable Afghanistan. “Why would we make all our effort to be in vain just to let Afghanistan collapse,” he wondered. The Nato spokesman said the alliance would continue the training, advising and assistance of the Afghan security forces.  

“Afghanistan has come a long way  over the past 10 years in terms of establishing democracy, in terms of strengthening economic institutions, police and army, in terms of the vast gains we have made in education, in healthcare, in infrastructure development [and] building our economy,” said Janan Mosazai, Afghanistan Foreign Ministry spokesman. “Afghanistan is never going to go back to 1990s,” he added.   

Concern about economy is also widespread. “Our economy is right now totally dependent on donor money and international aid. There has been no vision laid out for the economic sustainability after 2014,” Mujib Mashal said.

“If we compare this year with last year, I would say that the business has dropped by 60 per cent,” said Omar Gul, who has invested 30,000 dollars in garment business.  

Nato spokesman, however, said the international community had pledged up to 16 billion dollars for Afghanistan and the country could also tap its resources. “So you wouldn’t expect some kind of massive economic collapse,” he hoped.

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