Afghanistan; At the beginning of the 20th century, it gained its independence in the days while two imperialist powers, one in its neighboring in the north and the other in the south of the country, were striving to expand their rules.
Against both the powers, the indigenous people across the Amu River and the British Indian subcontinent continued their struggle.
In the north, with the victory of the October revolution of the 1917, this resistance centered on Bukhara gained the aspect of sanctity, and the fighters of Central Asia fought with their religious beliefs; but the revolutionary communists were suppressing them; one of the consequences of this resistance based on Islamic religious beliefs is the migration from the ancestral land to the safe Islamic land which was considered to be Afghanistan at that time.
These migrations, which included thousands of Tajiks, Turks, and Person-speaking jews, began in 1920 and lasted until 1930, which are the years of permanent defeat of the Basmachis (national-Islamic resistance fighters of Bukhara); continued by the Soviet revolutionary forces. This number of Bukhara immigrants moved to northern Afghanistan and Kabul and, the last king of Bukhara, Amir Ismail, was among the immigrants moved to northern Afghanistan and Kabul and Ismail stationed in Kabul and also died in 1943 in Kabul.
These refugees integrated into the Afghan society without any discrimination, these immigrants started relationship or kinship with native people, in addition to that, the also engaged in economic activities which later played a major role in the growth of Afghan economy. Another noteworthy point was that Bukhara was sacred to the people of Afghanistan as the last academic center of Islamic civilization. For this reason, the refugees considered that as sacred and because of this sanctity, some of their elders were given the nickname. (BBC Farsi; November 5, 2017; Magnus Marsden is Professor of at the University of Sussex)
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of fifteen independent republics in the territory of that country, in 1992, the civil war between the government of Tajikistan and the Islamists in that country ignited; As a result of this war, more than 100,000 nationals of that country sought refuge in Afghanistan, and were stationed in Balkh, Kunduz, and Takhar provinces in refugee camps, where they were supported by the Islamic State of Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Following the of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Presidents of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, and Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Minister of Defense of that government, peace was restored between the government and the opposition of Tajikistan in 1997, and the return of these immigrants was gradually completed from 1993 to 1997.
Another reason of immigration in the early years of the 20th century; the Indian immigrants. After the uprising of the Indian people against British colonialism in 1857-1859, in which the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent played a major role, the caliphate movement formed by Islamic scholars; One of its recommendations was to migrate to Islamic lands and launch jihad against colonialism.
In 1916, the first group of Indian immigrants who were freedom fighters, came to Kabul during the era of Amir Habibullah Khan (1900-1919) and settled in Babar Garden in Kabul city.
This group of Indian immigrants entered Kabul, some of them went to Turkey through the Soviet Union, and in September 1920, the Muhajireen Association was established in Kabul to control the affairs of the immigrants.
Basically, the migration of Indian Muslims started to Afghanistan during the years 1857-1859, after the freedom seekers uprising of the Indian people, and most of these migrations were concentrated in tribal areas, from the east and south of the country and even Kabul.
One of the most important events of the Amaniya era was the establishment of the Immigration Association, which was formed in Kabul, whose task was to control the affairs of the migrants.
The establishment of the interim government of Indian in Kabul, whose goal was the independence of Indian subcontinent from the British colonialism, and it is known as one of the prominent points of the Indian people’s struggle against British colonialism.
After Afghanistan declared its full independence from Britain in 1919, a new wave of Indian Muslim immigration began; Just in the first year of the country’s independence, 12,000 immigrants entered Afghanistan.
Later, some of these immigrants went to European and Asian countries through Afghanistan; Some of them were integrated into the Afghan society and some of them returned to their ancestral lands.
During the era of Shah Amanullah Khan, the first legislative document to manage the affairs of immigrants under the title “Immigrant Regulations” was enacted and enforced in the summer of 1923 in 23 articles.
This regulation, which is known as the first effective law in immigration matters in the country, contained to the following content: According to the text of this law, foreign nationals who came to Afghanistan as immigrants, themselves and their family members are required to obtain an Afghan citizenship certificate and they did not have the right to return to their homelands. Also, based on the explicitness of article 5th of this regulation, the Afghan government had the right to accept the petitioner’s immigration or to order his deportation from the country. The second part of the said regulation ordered the central and local authorities and bodies to regulate the affairs related to the acceptance and settlement of immigrants under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Also, this regulation decreed that, to permanently settle the immigrants, the relevant departments will be responsible for their accommodation.
According to the provisions of this legal document, the government distributed agricultural land for free to poor immigrants. If the possessor used the land for twenty years, he could sell the distributed land after the end of the cited period.
During the era of Amaniyah, the treaty of peace and friendship between the governments of Afghanistan and Iran was concluded in 1921. According to the seventh chapter of this treaty, the extradition of criminals was happened between the parties; But political refugees were excluded from this; As this chapter was written: “In case of fault and escape of one of the citizens of the contracting states to another country, the officials of the sovereign governments will have the right to request his return to their country through political channels, and from the local government, from this assistance It will not be withheld, but the political culprits will be exempted from this.”
In the first republic of Afghanistan, during the time of Muhammad Dawood (1973-1978), due to the hostile relations between Kabul and Islamabad, mutual migrations between Afghanistan and Pakistan took place based on political interests and values between the two countries. Just as the government of Pakistan accepted the political opponents of the government of Afghanistan in its country (which laid the foundation for the migration of millions during the invasion of the country by the Soviet forces), the Islamists were able to take advantage of this position to attract immigrants to Pakistan, which is a process supported by Pakistan. Arab countries of the Gulf, America and the West were placed); As the Kabul authorities killed thousands of Baloch people, including families, women and children; It was hosted in the Kandahar, which was supervised by Afghan charitable institutions, especially International Committee of the Red Cross. This process continued until 1977; But with the approach of Kabul and Islamabad, this process slowed down and even the return of some of these Baloch immigrants to their original homelands became favorable.
Dawood Khan’s government occasionally used the existence of these immigrants as a tactic against Pakistan in international forums.
In the era of the Democratic Party of Afghanistan, in addition to the increase in the number of Baloch and Pakistani immigrants, the left-wing elements following the Moscow line in the neighboring countries found Afghanistan to be one of the safe places for asylum; As a large number of anti-Islamic revolution elements of Iran, who were mostly affiliated with Hizb-i-Todeh of Iran and the People’s Mujahideen, settled in the important cities of Afghanistan, where they were supported by the Afghan government at that time.
In addition to other assistance provided by the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the People’s Democratic Party, young Iranian nationals were given the chance to study in the Afghanistan universities, especially Kabul University, Kabul State Medical Institute (current Kabul medical university), Kabul Polytechnic.
In addition to Pakistani and Iranian immigrants, the third group of immigrants were some Palestinians who were financially and spiritually supported by the government and the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. As some of the Palestinian youth were studying in the public universities of Afghanistan.
The problematic immigrants in the 1980s was Murtaza Bhutto and his brother Shahnawaz Bhutto. After the execution of their father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan by General Ziaul Haq, they sought refuge in Afghanistan and settled in Kabul. Murtaza Bhutto led the Pakistan Zulfiqar Party from Kabul. He married the daughter of one of the Afghan diplomats named Fawzia Fasihuddin (later this marriage led to a separation, their daughter named Fatemeh Bhutto, who is currently seen as having political activities within the framework of the Pakistan People’s Party). Mortaza Bhutto had a series of activities against the Pakistani government when he was staying in Kabul. As on March 2, 1981, a plane with 146 passengers was hijacked from Peshawar airport and landed in Kabul airport, one of the passengers was a high-ranking Pakistani officer who was killed, and Zulfiqar party took responsibility for it and its demands from General Ziaul Haq, the military commander of Pakistan, stated that apparently these demands were accepted, and the kidnapped passengers were released.
Years later, this group stopped their activities in Afghanistan and moved to Syria. (BBC report; Urdu service; written by Jafar Razavi; December 20, 2020).
Between years 2001 and 2021, a number of Baloch people who were dissatisfied with the government of Pakistan and they stationed in Kabul, Kandahar and Nimroz, with the support of the United Nations Commissioner for Migration. The media spread; As quoted by the press, 16 of these refugees, on February 5, 2022, by the Taliban, from their homes in Kota-i-Sangi, Kabul (these refugees were under the protection of UNHCR); have been arrested.
It should not left unsay; Balochwana News; after the capture of Balochistan in 1948, the migration of Balchs started from that country, most of them took refuge in Afghanistan in different times. (Quoted from: Balochistan: The Silant Plighat Baloch Refugees Oct16, 2015
On June 15, 2014; Pakistan’s ground and air forces launched an operation called “Zarb Azab” along with other regions of Pakistan, in North Waziristan along the Durand Line, as a result of this operation, more than 200,000 people of Waziristan, including children and their families, displaced to Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan. The Afghan government, through the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, assisted these migrants and established the Golan migrant camps for them in Khost, which is the largest camp of these migrants. According to officials, there are 16,444 people in this camp and 36,000 in Paktia province, and according to the information of the United Nations Refugee Agency, 51,000 of these refugees are in Khost province alone, for seven years, they are still in three camps in the districts Spera, Mandozi and Nadershah Kot are living there.
It also worth mentioning that a limited number of Iranian immigrants who are under the protection of UNHCR have also been resettled in Afghanistan.
It should also be remembered that after 2010, some foreign fighters who fought in support of and alongside the anti-government groups of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the anti-terrorist coalition, resettled with their families in areas of Afghanistan, especially Zabul and Nangarhar. These families were never recognized as immigrants by the Afghan government and international institutions, but as enemy forces; in some cases, a large number of these families, including their children and women, who were mainly nationals of Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Bangladesh and Arab countries; They were arrested by the military forces and in most cases these nationals were returned to their original homelands through the government of Afghanistan at that time, within the framework of the extradition contracts of criminals or with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Conclusion:
The brief process of studying a century of immigration citizens of different countries to Afghanistan shows that the country has been a comfortable and peaceful place for asylum seekers, with sincerity, and if there had not been more than forty years of war in the country, Afghanistan hosted thousands of immigrants from the region. It must be acknowledged that the motivation to immigrate to Afghanistan had mostly religious and political aspects.
Sources:
-Habibi, Abdul Hai, Da Afghanistan Peshalik, Beyhaqi Publishing House, Kabul, 1353;
-Nizamnamah Muhajirin, Supreme Council of Ministers Editorial Office Press
-The treaty between the governments of Afghanistan and Iran, 1st Saratan of 1300 AH;
-BBC Farsi, article by Magnus Marzden, professor at Sussex University, November 5, 2017;
-BBC Urdu, article by Jafar Razavi, December 20, 2020.
-Balochastan: The Silant palight Baloch Refugees; oct.2015.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect Wesal TV’s editorial policy.
Writer introduction:
Dr. Nasrullah Stanikzai, Professor of law, analyst of legal issues; 30 years of teaching history in faculties of Law, Sharia, Journalism, Economics, Social Sciences and Education of Kabul University; The judicial course of the Supreme Court and Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Police Academy and his written books are in fields of law, politics and history.
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