PESHAWAR — Before the advent of `Eid Al-Fitr, Gul Zameen Khan, an elderly Afghan refugee in Pakistan, used to get gifts and a small cash from donors and local authorities, drawing a smile of the faces of his young children. But this year, the dearth of aid has cast a pall on the joy of the Muslim feast among the Afghan refugees in the southeast Asian Muslim country.
“`Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha are the two occasions when we used to get good and ample food, some amount and clothes for ourselves and our children,” Khan told IslamOnline.
“But the quantity of food, and other items have reduced during last few years as most of NGOs and governments have halted their operations here.”
Pakistan has been hosting over two million refugees who trickled into the country after the Soviet and US invasions of Afghanistan.
Every year, chartered planes loaded with food, clothes and gifts used to land in Pakistan for the refugees two weeks before the start of `Eid, drawing a smile on the Afghan faces in the shelter camps.
But the amount of aid for the refugees largely dropped as Pakistan closed several refugees camps and moved refugees into Afghanistan.
“We have not been receiving sufficient `Eid grants for last two years following closure of various refugee camps in different parts of northwestern frontier province,” said Khan.
`Eid Al-Fitr, of the two main Islamic religious festivals together with `Eid Al-Adha, started in Pakistan on Monday.
During `Eid, families and friends exchange visits to express well wishes and children, wearing new clothes bought especially for `Eid, enjoy going out in parks and open fields.
Marred Joy
Shamim Shahid, a senior journalist, says that the refugees have not got `Eid gifts as they used in the past years.
“Everything, including aid, has been diverted to Afghanistan in the name of reconstruction of the war-stricken country,” the Peshawar-based senior journalist said.
“That’s why they (refugees) are not getting the traditional aid, which they used to receive till a few years back.”
Many of the refugees, however, still maintain a glimmer of hope, thanks to efforts of the Islamic and foreign NGOs operating in the country.
“I have got clothes for my two out of four children,” said Ghous Khan, an Afghan refugee settled in Azakhela refugee camp, in the outskirts of Peshawar.
Many NGOs, including the UK Islamic Mission, Helping Hands, and Islamic Relief, and the US-based Islamic Circle of North America and some NGOs from Turkey, have provided clothes and `Eid gifts for the refugees.
They also hosted `Eid festivals at refugee camps, including swings for children, football and cricket tournaments, and some other traditional Afghan sports.
Ghous said the respective NGOs have allocated a quota for each family as they have limited resources.
“This year, half of total children, and female members of a family have got new clothes, while the quantity of feast, and gifts have also reduced,” he said.
“But there is no Eidi (small `Eid money) and clothes for males this year.”
Source: IslamOnline
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