|
-historical |
-housing |
-refugees |
Refugee Research |
Afghan Refugees in Pakistan |
In the summer of 1983, Mr. Azadzoi travelled to Pakistan to document the Afghan refugee camps and settlements in Pakistan. This work involved survey and documentation of several refugee camps in the North-West Frontier Provices of Pakistan during a two months period. The result was published as a Thesis project in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984, Influx of refugees bagan as a few hundreds in April 1978 when the government of Daud Khan was overthrown by Communist parties in a coup. By the end of 1978, there were over 25,000 refugees in camps. By the end of 1979 there were almost half a million refugees and by the end of 1980 it was estimated to be over a million refugees and during the summer of 1983 there were 2,820,500 refugees in Pakistan. This was recorded as the largest concentration of refugees in the history of mankind. |
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
Refugees |
0.1m |
0.6m |
1.0 million |
0.1m |
Patterns of Settlements: Refugees came by the thousands every week and month and settled in camps in the outskirts of the major cities of NWFP of Pakistan and Baluchistan. There were 360 registered camps by the United Nations (UN) in 1982. These camps were located far away from urban centers in desert lands and valleys. Most of the camps were isolated, inaccessible, and without any prior planning and program. A refugee camp population ranged from a few hundred refugees to over 150,000 refugess per camp. Most of these refugee camps were over-crowded. Some camps were on hill tops and valleys but most were on flat lands. Shelter: The basic form of a shelter for a refugee family was a tent. Every refugee family was given a tent by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) upon their arrival. As time past, the refugee family built a low mud walls at the premiter base of the tent (see sketches to the left). These walls were gradually raised higher and an entry opening was provided. Eventually, the tent was replaced with a roof made of poplar poles, hay, and mud. This formed a basic mud hut and served as a room for multi-porpose living, sleeping, and daily entertainment. Water Supply: Provision of potable for millions of refuges was one the major challenges to UNHCR and the host country. Most of these camps had no source of potable water. The UN supplied water in four methods: a) emergency distribution of water by mobile tankers. b) digging shallow wells where underground water was available at low level. and c) digging and provided deep wells and d) provision of water tanks at various locations in the refugee camps. Sanitation: Keeping a sanitary condition for human habitation was another challenge for the UNHCR and other involved International communities. For the thousands of refugees overcrowded in these camps, there was no provision for the disposal of garbage and human waste. Open sewers and piled garbages and wastes in the refugee camps threatened the health and safety of the refugees. Refugees built their traditional pit-latrines and several family refugees shared one latrines but the waste was disposed to the public areas. Open drains contaminated the air and the underground water sources. No refuse collection existed in 1982. Health Care: Women and children comprised a significant portion of refugee popolation in the camps. Diet was limited in quantity and in quality. Defficiency of vitamin and nutrition and water polution and poor sanitary condition contributed to high rise of mortality among women and children. High humidity and high temperature also contribution to worsen health condition. The UN and International community and local government responded the problem by provided emergency mobile units. Later, some stationery dispensaries were put in service. Usually, large tarpaulins made up as visiting centers and clinics. Schools: The number of school age children was the highest among the refugee population. Figures indicated that almost 50% of the refugee population was school age childrend (1.4 million). Large tents and tarpaulins were given to refugee leaders to be used as classrooms. Some sent their children to local mosques and madrasas to learn religous lessons. Later, refugees built their schools with traditional mud wall structures with the help of volunteers and government and non-government agencies. Mosques: Afghan refugees were devout muslims and most prayed five times a day. They built their own mosques as soon as they settled in these refugee camps. No agency helped them with the provison of a building or construction of a mosque. Traditional method of construction and use of locally available building material along with community participation and contribution from the refugees help building these mosques. Shops and Marketplaces: Rafugees camps were located far from the urban centers and local bazaars. Some refugees began opening shops and convenient stores to sell products such as vegetable, fruits, matches, and cigarettes. Later, other skilled refugees opened shops such as pottery making, woodworking, cobbling, and other crafts. Women refugees opened their carpetmaking, feltmaking, and embroidery inside their compounds and the men sold the products in local markets. Relief Work: The UNHCR, WFP, WHO, UNICEF, ILO, and the World Bank with assistance from the local government were mainly invovled in providing food amd water, temporary shelter (tents), emergency and preventive health care, storage, transportation, and some police protection. Later, they focussed on providing income-generating pilot projects, veterinary, reafforestation, and relocation schemes. Some NGOs proposed construction of embergency shelters in the form of pre-fab concrete units (right photos) but failed to convence the refugees and the local autorities to adapt the option. |
NASIR BAGH REFUGEE CAMP, PESHAWAR |
CAMP ESTABLISHED IN 1979 |
CAMP IN 1983, POPULATION 42,000 |
TRANSFORMATION OF A TENT INTO A MUD HUT |
FLOOR PLAN AND SECTIONS OF A HOUSE BUILT BY A REFUGEE FAMILY, JUNE 1983 |
FLOOR PLAN AND SECTION OF A SCHOOL BUILDING BUILT BY THE REFUGEES, 1983 |
TENT CITIES OF REFUGEE CAMPS TRANSFOMED INTO TRADITIONAL RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS WITH TINY ALLEYS AND PATHWAYS |
TENTS GIVEN TO REFUGEES AS TEMPORARY SHELTER TRANSFORMED INTO PERMANENT DWELLINGS |
REFUGEES DUG THEIR OWN WATER WELLS, WOMEN FITCHED WATER FROM DISTANCES. RELIEF WORK PROVIDED SOME MATERIAL FOR THE WELLS |
SANITATION AND DISPOSAL OF WASTE MATERIAL AND HUMAN WASTE WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE REGUGEE CAMPS. |
LARGE TENTS AND TARPAULINS WERE PROVIDED BY THE RELIEF WORK TO BE USED AS CLINICS, HOSPITALS, AND HEALTH CARE CENTERS. WOMEN AND CHILDREN CONSTITUTED THE LARGES NUMBER OF PATIENTS IN THE REFUGEE CAMPS. |
INITIALLY TARPAULINS WERE GIVEN TO BE USED AS SCHOOLS, LATER, REFUGEES BUILT THEIR OWN SCHOOL BUILDINGS. |
REFUGEES BEGAN BUILDING THEIR OWN BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, MOSQUES HOMES, AND SHOPS. USED THEIR TRADITIONAL METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION AND LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS |
REFUGEES BAGAN MAKING POTTERIES, CARPETS, HANDCRAFTS AND SOLD IT IN THE LOCAL MARKET. THEY ALSO BROUGHT BUILDING MATERIALS, WOOD, STONE, AND MAD MUD BRICKS AND OPENED MARKET PLACES WITHIN THE REFUGEE CAMPS. THEY TURNED INTO REAL BAZAARS AND MARKETPLACES |
GEODESTIC DOME PROJECT TO BE USED AS TEMPORARY SHELTER |