Jalozai
Encyclopedia
Jalozai refugee camp, 35 kilometres southeast of Peshawar
, Pakistan
, was one of the largest of 150 refugee or transit camps in Pakistan, holding Afghan refugees from the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It had an estimated 70,000 refugees at its peak. New Jalozai adjoined the original Jalozai camp in November 2000, taking in a new wave of arriving Afghan refugees. The camps briefly received an additional influx of refugees in the period after 9/11, leading up to the United States invasion of Afghanistan
in October 2001. After the fall of the Taliban, the vast majority of refugees in the Jalozai camp returned home or were relocated elsewhere. In February 2002, with a remaining population of 800, Jalozai camp was formally closed. But some problem elements remained through at least 2003, necessitating Pakistani military raids on the former camp that year.
, and became surrounded by huge camps of Afghan refugees. Many of the Afghan refugees fled through the historic Khyber Pass
, near Peshawar. That major border city of a million people then replaced Kabul
and Kandahar
as the centre of ethnic Pashtuns
(Pakhtuns) cultural development during the 1980s.
Osama bin Laden
was identified as a visitor to the Jalozai camp in the 1980s on one occasion. Bin Laden had been based around Peshawar since 1981, where he and Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
were running a large contingent of foreign Arabs and material support involved in the Afghan resistance. Haji Dost Mohammad, the Jalozai security chief, and also a resident of Peshawar since 1979, recalled in a Reuters
interview in 2001 that Osama bin Laden
had visited Jalozai camp in 1987. According to Mr. Mohammad, "Once he came to the camp, 14 years ago, to deliver dates. He came only once. I haven't seen him since, and at the time I didn't know who he was."
After the Soviet defeat in 1989, many of the Afghan refugees remained in Jalozai and in other Pakistan camps throughout the subsequent civil war and ensuing Afghan rule by the Taliban.
by al-Qaeda
brought many relief agencies to Pakistan, in anticipation of a new exodus of Afghan refugees. The expected retaliation from the United States government then came. Though it was limited to cruise missiles fired into al-Qaeda training camps in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the expected wave of new refugees also followed.
The old Jalozai camp continued to contain thousands of refugees from the 1980s and 1990s conflicts. But in November 2000, the "New Jalozai" camp was also established, next to the existing old Jalozai camp. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF) began working in New Jalozai in November 2000. Since that time, an additional 50,000 refugees arrived in the Peshawar area, and had settled in the New Jalozai refugee camp through the nine months ending in July 2001.
At the start of 2001, there were nearly 150 refugee camps in Pakistan with some 1.1 million Afghan residents in the camps. Just over 3 million Afghans lived in Pakistan overall, including the camps.
By late 2001, the combined Jalozai refugee camps were estimated by Reuters to have been home to 300,000 Afghans, in total during various times over more than two decades. Most sources put the camp population at 70,000 refugees at its peak.
But through July 2001, the combined Jalozai camp was still merely a makeshift transit point. It did not have formal UN status as a refugee camp. No registration had ever taken place in the camp, so substandard living conditions prevailed for the tens of thousands of refugees at Jalozai.
In mid 2001, before the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the United States, 10,000 of the Afghans in the Jalozai camp were recognized and registered as genuine refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and transferred to the new Shamshatoo refugee camp outside the city of Peshawar according to UNHCR spokesperson Melita Sunjic.
Most of the other former residents of the Jalozai camp had relocated to six new camps built in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since September 11, 2001, including Kotkai, Bajaur, Shalman, Old Bagzai, Basu and Ashgaru.
On February 11, 2002 UNHCR said that the Jalozai refugee camp would be closed the next day, on February 12, 2002. The a statement of the United Nations
refugee agency said that UNHCR deputy representative to Pakistan Eva Demant and commissioner for Afghan refugees would officially close the site.
As of February 11, 2002, the remaining some 800 refugees in Jalozai were scheduled to be transferred to Barkili close to the Afghan border on the following day.
In March 2002, the UN refugee agency began a voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan. By the end of 2002, UNHCR had repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 1.4 million from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps, which had been created in anticipation of the October 2001 US coalition invasion.
UNHCR emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps.
On March 9, 2003 Pakistani security forces carried out raids in Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar. The forces also raided nearby Shamshatoo camp. No one was detained.
2004 returnees were 385,000 from Pakistan.
2005 UNHCR plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan. As of early April 2005, 11,000 Afghans returned home in early 2005. 7,000 returned from Pakistan since assisted returns resumed in March. Returns were climbing closer to 500 a day from 250 in March. Numbers were expected to swell as the weather warmed into the summer. UNHCR was then planning, with Pakistan, for perhaps 1.5 million refugees who would stay after termination of the tripartite refugee return agreement in March 2006.
In 2005, with more Afghans drawn home by improving conditions, all the "new" camps in Pakistan established to shelter Afghans anticipated to be fleeing the 2001 war in Afghanistan had been closed. More than 580,000 Afghans had gone home from the camps since the UN's voluntary repatriation programme began in 2002.
As of 2005, camp closures continued in parallel with the UNHCR repatriation operation that began in March 2002 and helped 2.4 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan to go home, the agency's largest such programme anywhere in the world.
The region was rocked severely by the catastrophic 2005 Kashmir earthquake
.
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, was one of the largest of 150 refugee or transit camps in Pakistan, holding Afghan refugees from the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It had an estimated 70,000 refugees at its peak. New Jalozai adjoined the original Jalozai camp in November 2000, taking in a new wave of arriving Afghan refugees. The camps briefly received an additional influx of refugees in the period after 9/11, leading up to the United States invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
in October 2001. After the fall of the Taliban, the vast majority of refugees in the Jalozai camp returned home or were relocated elsewhere. In February 2002, with a remaining population of 800, Jalozai camp was formally closed. But some problem elements remained through at least 2003, necessitating Pakistani military raids on the former camp that year.
1979 Soviet invasion
After 1979, Peshawar served as a political centre for anti-Soviet MujahideenMujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
, and became surrounded by huge camps of Afghan refugees. Many of the Afghan refugees fled through the historic Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
, near Peshawar. That major border city of a million people then replaced Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
and Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
as the centre of ethnic Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
(Pakhtuns) cultural development during the 1980s.
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
was identified as a visitor to the Jalozai camp in the 1980s on one occasion. Bin Laden had been based around Peshawar since 1981, where he and Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was a highly influential Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who preached in favor of defensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders...
were running a large contingent of foreign Arabs and material support involved in the Afghan resistance. Haji Dost Mohammad, the Jalozai security chief, and also a resident of Peshawar since 1979, recalled in a Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
interview in 2001 that Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
had visited Jalozai camp in 1987. According to Mr. Mohammad, "Once he came to the camp, 14 years ago, to deliver dates. He came only once. I haven't seen him since, and at the time I didn't know who he was."
After the Soviet defeat in 1989, many of the Afghan refugees remained in Jalozai and in other Pakistan camps throughout the subsequent civil war and ensuing Afghan rule by the Taliban.
November 2000 New Jalozai
In October 2000, the USS Cole bombingUSS Cole bombing
The USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured...
by al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
brought many relief agencies to Pakistan, in anticipation of a new exodus of Afghan refugees. The expected retaliation from the United States government then came. Though it was limited to cruise missiles fired into al-Qaeda training camps in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the expected wave of new refugees also followed.
The old Jalozai camp continued to contain thousands of refugees from the 1980s and 1990s conflicts. But in November 2000, the "New Jalozai" camp was also established, next to the existing old Jalozai camp. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
(MSF) began working in New Jalozai in November 2000. Since that time, an additional 50,000 refugees arrived in the Peshawar area, and had settled in the New Jalozai refugee camp through the nine months ending in July 2001.
At the start of 2001, there were nearly 150 refugee camps in Pakistan with some 1.1 million Afghan residents in the camps. Just over 3 million Afghans lived in Pakistan overall, including the camps.
By late 2001, the combined Jalozai refugee camps were estimated by Reuters to have been home to 300,000 Afghans, in total during various times over more than two decades. Most sources put the camp population at 70,000 refugees at its peak.
But through July 2001, the combined Jalozai camp was still merely a makeshift transit point. It did not have formal UN status as a refugee camp. No registration had ever taken place in the camp, so substandard living conditions prevailed for the tens of thousands of refugees at Jalozai.
In mid 2001, before the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the United States, 10,000 of the Afghans in the Jalozai camp were recognized and registered as genuine refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR) and transferred to the new Shamshatoo refugee camp outside the city of Peshawar according to UNHCR spokesperson Melita Sunjic.
2002 camp closures and returnees
By early 2002, 50,000 had been relocated from Jalozai camp. Many of those had returned home to Afghainstan following the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001.Most of the other former residents of the Jalozai camp had relocated to six new camps built in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since September 11, 2001, including Kotkai, Bajaur, Shalman, Old Bagzai, Basu and Ashgaru.
On February 11, 2002 UNHCR said that the Jalozai refugee camp would be closed the next day, on February 12, 2002. The a statement of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
refugee agency said that UNHCR deputy representative to Pakistan Eva Demant and commissioner for Afghan refugees would officially close the site.
As of February 11, 2002, the remaining some 800 refugees in Jalozai were scheduled to be transferred to Barkili close to the Afghan border on the following day.
In March 2002, the UN refugee agency began a voluntary repatriation campaign in Pakistan. By the end of 2002, UNHCR had repatriated 1.53 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan, including 1.4 million from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 82% were from urban areas; only 3% were from new camps, which had been created in anticipation of the October 2001 US coalition invasion.
UNHCR emphasis in 2003 was on repatriation from old camps and cities in Pakistan to rural areas in Afghanistan. 70% of returnees from Pakistan were from cities and 30% from camps.
On March 9, 2003 Pakistani security forces carried out raids in Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar. The forces also raided nearby Shamshatoo camp. No one was detained.
2004 returnees were 385,000 from Pakistan.
2005 UNHCR plans called for 400,000 Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan. As of early April 2005, 11,000 Afghans returned home in early 2005. 7,000 returned from Pakistan since assisted returns resumed in March. Returns were climbing closer to 500 a day from 250 in March. Numbers were expected to swell as the weather warmed into the summer. UNHCR was then planning, with Pakistan, for perhaps 1.5 million refugees who would stay after termination of the tripartite refugee return agreement in March 2006.
In 2005, with more Afghans drawn home by improving conditions, all the "new" camps in Pakistan established to shelter Afghans anticipated to be fleeing the 2001 war in Afghanistan had been closed. More than 580,000 Afghans had gone home from the camps since the UN's voluntary repatriation programme began in 2002.
As of 2005, camp closures continued in parallel with the UNHCR repatriation operation that began in March 2002 and helped 2.4 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan to go home, the agency's largest such programme anywhere in the world.
The region was rocked severely by the catastrophic 2005 Kashmir earthquake
2005 Kashmir earthquake
The 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad, affecting Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005...
.
See also
- Afghan refugees
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
- MuhajirMuhajirMuhajir or Mohajir is an Arabic word meaning immigrant. The Islamic calendar Hejira starts when Muhammad and his companions left Mecca for Medina in what is known as Hijra. They were called Muhajirun...
- Demography of Pakistan