ASIA/PAKISTAN – A priest from Karachi: “The people of Pakistan feel betrayed by the Afghans. The repatriation program creates tension”

Karachi – “There is tension in the country. The people of Pakistan feel betrayed by the Afghans. In the past, for many years, we offered refuge and hospitality to thousands of people who came across the border from Afghanistan because of wars and persecution. Now we are exposed to terrorist attacks, which leads to frustration and hostility because people perceive the Afghans as ungrateful,” Father Mario Angelo Rodrigues, priest of the Archdiocese of Karachi and rector of St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in Karachi, told Fides, referring to the feelings of the Pakistani population as hostilities continue between Pakistan and Afghanistan and a new war is feared.
In recent days, two suicide bombers and a gunman stormed the headquarters of the Federal Police in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing three officers and injuring eleven others. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion has fallen on the Pakistani group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan , which is allied with the Afghan Taliban and whose leaders are believed to be in Afghanistan.
In response, the Pakistani Air Force launched nighttime airstrikes in three eastern Afghan provinces, killing ten civilians, including nine children, according to the government in Kabul. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the Afghan government, called the attacks “atrocities” and declared them “a violation of Afghan territory.” Afghanistan will “give the necessary response at the appropriate time,” he added, signaling a new escalation of the conflict. The bilateral ceasefire, brokered in October by Qatar and Turkey, remains in effect, “but there is growing hostility towards the Afghan citizens still living in Pakistan,” reports Father Rodrigues.
“There is a repatriation program for these refugees underway, and perhaps this is why many Afghans are expressing disappointment, anger, and resentment towards the Pakistani government, which is rejecting them. Many of them are fully integrated, and many young people or children were born in Pakistan,” the Catholic priest explains. “To re-establish a climate of mutual trust and embark on a path to peace, the Pakistani government should accept the situation and grant residency to Afghan refugees who are living peacefully and have no links to terrorism, in the spirit of an open and pluralistic society,” the priest believes. On the other hand, he notes, “the government in Kabul should cooperate in combating terrorism, our common enemy.” “As Pakistani Christians, we support paths of acceptance and brotherhood so that we can live in true peace within our society and with our neighbors,” he concludes. Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban in Afghanistan to prevent TTP members from using Afghan territory for attacks. Kabul denies this accusation, but relations have deteriorated. The ongoing tensions have brought bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan to a standstill, and all border crossings have been closed since last month.

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