CITIES FOR CHILDREN: A CASE STUDY OF REFUGEES IN TOWNS, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

Over the past 40 years, Pakistan has faced repeated waves of refugees due to conflicts in neighboring Afghanistan and internal crises within the country. At its peak, Pakistan hosted around 4 million refugees and currently still houses about 1.4 million registered refugees. Instead of living in designated "refugee villages," many refugees chose to settle in cities like Islamabad. As of June 2018, the UNHCR had registered 33,286 Afghan refugees in Islamabad Capital Territory, but the actual numbers of unregistered refugees and IDPs are believed to be much higher. On the other hand, the integration of Afghan refugee children in Islamabad has been facing obstacles, including police and municipal government harassment, financial barriers, insecure housing, and limited legal protections.

Date: October 20, 2020

Source: citiesforchildren.co