Status of Afghan refugees in Pakistan: a considered framework for their return.

Abstract

The invasion of Afghanistan was the Soviet Union’s final Military intervention before its eventual dissolution in 1991. The soviet Troops invaded Kabul on 25th December 1979 to replace Hafizullah A min with Babrak Karmal as head of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. A decade of this deadly war marked the subsequent withdrawal of the Soviets but resulted in massive Administrative crisis not only for Afghanistan itself but for the neighboring Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In the wake of such crisis, where millions have already been displaced, Afghanistan sustained another major blow in October 2001: the United States of America launched a full-fledge offensive against it in response to the 9/11 attack. This study shall argue the underlying reasons which from the background or the Russian and the subsequent U.S. invasion, the legal cover they created to justify their acts as jus ad bellum, its effects and implications. However, the study has been carried out with specific perspective of the neighboring State Pakistan; who hosts millions of refugees that have been forced to flee Afghanistan due the invasions. The Legality of Refugees, their rights, status and social problems will be argued in the light of International Conventions, Scholarly Journals and other Authoritative Sources. Since the year 2014 marked the withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan, an essential part of my study will be proposed legal framework for rehabilitation and repatriation of the Afghan Refugees. Pakistan hosts the largest number of refugees in the world. There is a need to critically examine the status, rights and proposed framework to facilitate the repatriation of refugees. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it shall not only manifest the legal issues under International Law but also provide a roadmap for legal courses that can be adopted in the future.