Afghan refugee economic burden or blessing

[Azmal]

I would like to discuss the economical impact of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, especially when it comes to bring foreign exchange in term of their relative sending dollars to them; cheap labor and the carpet industry...which according to Sardah Chamber of commerce once reached $500 million dollars annually.

[khyaal]

Look wrora! Pakistan earned over 70 billion dollars during the proxy afghan war in the 80's. Again in the war against terror it earned tens of billions of dollars. It's all blood money which is circulating in Pakistan now.

[khyaal]

Somehow it effected economy and jobs here, But we are same people so it doesnt matter.

But over 80 percent of Pashtun population is living below poverty line.

btw, it is no problem for you if pakistan earns money over our blood?

[BLS_1919v2.0]

They help Pashtunize peshawar fully and that is a big thing. They also by moving in a way standardized pashto in peshawar valley. Before Pashto was divided into many accents and dialects, now in peshawar due to the influx of pashtuns from different area, it has gone away. People have to remember at the time Peshawar and Quetta were the only cities in Pashtun/Afghan watan with a proper infrastructure (Kabul's one being destroyed due the war), so limited resources and a large influx of people can catch the ire of locals.

Either way, like I said before Peshawar is as much Afghanistan pashtun's city as is Pashtunkhwas...they are locals now and have lived there for a generation. Inshallah no one can tell them to leave, it is theres.

[Zarawar]

Majority of our Turkomen and Uzbek rug weavers have been granted Pakistani citizenship openly in Peshawar, others Afghans might never get a taste of a Pakistani ID card, but the Rug weavers and Jewelry makers are almost forced to accept the Pakistani citizenship. They live in colonies and are watched carefully, their work is one of a kind, they are very simple and illiterate people, that are an easy prey for Pakistan, and they are under a constant Pakistani surveillance. To them, they follow those, that provides them with shelter and security, in that case Pakistan (ID cards). Obviously it's a multi-million dollar industry and Pakistan cannot afford to lose it. Luckily thousands migrated back to Ghazni, Mazar and Kabul (Gulfroshi street) but majority still stays in Pakistan.
I've been to some stores in US/Europe, where I would come across an old Bukhara rug with a label saying "Made in Pakistan". Luckily the rug experts and high end quality clients know the history behind rug weaving, they know that Pakistan has no history in rug weaving or Bactrian jewelry. Whereas in general (the majority) doesn't know and before they know it, Made in Pakistan, stays in their minds permanently. I even get annoyed when they label the SWAT furniture or embroidery with Pakistan, let alone authentic Uzbek and Turkomen embroidery and rugs.
Apart of the ignorance has to do with the current Afghan government, because they are too busy filling their pockets with cash, they could care less about a system that is going to improve the lives of ordinary people. They are addicted to ready give away cash, they have no interest in issues like this.
There is a huge demand for Afghan rugs, jewelry and embriodery in the west, because Afghan art is a mix of different nations and ethnicities, for example the high end rugs are of Turkic Origins, the Bactrian jewelry is of Roman origin. It's not like Morroccon or Yemeni art, where everything from A-Z is known and can be pointed out easily. Whereas, Afghan art, e.g. Uzbek embroidery is totaly different than the Kohistani embroidery, Turkomen embroidery is different than Tajik embroidery, top quality Pashtun (Ghazni and Katawaz) embroidery is different than Baluchi embroidery, Balochi embroidery is different than SWATi embroidery and the list goes on with everything (jewelry, furniture and other artifacts).
Another good example of our government's ignorance would be back in 60s when a couple from Santa fe new Mexico (Ira and Sylvia) came to Afghanistan and started to import Afghan sheepskin coats for wealthy women in the west. The coats got so popular that it made it to one of the top fashion magazines of the time (Vogue & Life). The couple started everything from a village called Istalef in Northern Afghanistan, where they hired hundreds of the locals to work for very cheap wages, not knowing that the very coat they made were sold for thousands of dollars and wore by the top models of the era. The couple later on expanded their business and started to make all kinds of arts, they now have one of the world's largest collection of Afghan rugs and artifacts in Sante Fe , that lead them to earn hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.....
I think our educated population needs to educate the illiterate and the working class that there is a demand for their work outside Afghanistan and that their work is appreciated and sold for big bucks. But, sometimes, I think that the art industry of Afghanistan will die pretty soon and that with the advancement of technology and other resources, people are going to stop weaving rugs and rather become engineers and Doctors.
This is one of the pictures of Life magazine, the posers are wearing Afghan sheepskin coats made by the people of Istalef..

[ayub]

^ well to be honest they are made in Pakistan so thaey will be labelled as such.

If these rug weavers didn't reside in Pakistan then the art would have disappeared completely. At least now it is alive and can once again rise in Afghanistan.

Many of these rugs are exported to Arab countries such as Uae etc..in Dubai u find many of these..it would be unlikely that Rich Arab countries would import directly from Afghanistan anyway, due to many reasons. One being Afghanistan is normally linked with Iran. Iran being their rival.

Secondly it is much cheaper to manufacture in Pakistan, wash and Finnish the rugs. Weaving is only one part of the process. Then it comes to exporting to world market, exporting costs are much cheaper than Afghanistan.

So the situation with these rugs etc is much more complex.

[Zarawar]

^ well to be honest they are made in Pakistan so thaey will be labelled as such.

If these rug weavers didn't reside in Pakistan then the art would have disappeared completely. At least now it is alive and can once again rise in Afghanistan.
That's why I said it makes me made that Pakistanis are getting paid and credited for Afghan work, and it's still sold as a Pakistani product in the west (new material)

Many of these rugs are exported to Arab countries such as Uae etc..in Dubai u find many of these..it would be unlikely that Rich Arab countries would import directly from Afghanistan anyway, due to many reasons. One being Afghanistan is normally linked with Iran. Iran being their rival.


And, Pakistan is not linked with Iran? the Pakistan/Iran/Afghan issue has nothing to do with Arab clients. Because, the importers are not Arabs, but rather Afghans. Arabs don't know nothing about art or rugs, they just look at the size. Not to mention, PERSIAN rugs itself has a huge demand in the ARAB world.

Secondly it is much cheaper to manufacture in Pakistan, wash and Finnish the rugs. Weaving is only one part of the process. Then it comes to exporting to world market, exporting costs are much cheaper than Afghanistan.
What cheaper? the workers are Afghan, they will work, regardless of where they stay, it's not that the rugs are made by Pakistani workers. Also, the most expensive and time consuming parts of rug weaving is WEAVING itself, what washing and finishing are you talking about? Again, all the labor is Afghan, not PAKISTANI!
So the situation with these rugs etc is much more complex.

..

[Shayesta]

I remember watching pictures of Pekhawer of the '70's and the city literally looked absolutely empty. All the big houses, huge stores, schools, mosques and etcetera in our neighborhood was owned by Afghans and indeed Pakistanis were working under them. Now when most Afghans have left, Pekhawris themselves keep saying Pekhawer looks so empty now. My last relative in Pekhawer had returned to Afghanistan just two months ago and her neighbors from Pekhawer had come to visit her in Jalalabad, and even they mentioned how empty Pekhawer is getting by Afghans' 'departure'. Gone are the old days...........