60,000 Afghan DPs living in capital



By Our Correspondent

Dawn
ISLAMABAD, March 13: About 60,000 Afghan nationals are settledin Islamabad, according to official sources.

Asizable number of Afghan families arealso settledin Rawalpindi but their exact number is not known though the police in Rawalpindi has been asked to ascertain their number.

The Peshawar More area as well I-10 Sector inIslamabad areas are the hub of Afghan refugees. Most of the middle class Afghans are settled in these areas. Besides, the well-to-do Afghan families are scattered in various sectors of Islamabad.

Most of the Afghans are involved in business activities dealing in carpets and antiques, running restaurants and transport business. The poorer among the Afghan population are involved in handicrafts business.

Some of Islamabad's fashionable boutiques have arrangements withAfghans for manufacturing ofhandicraftsand artifacts accordingto the designs given by their interior designers. In this way, the destitute Afghan families earn a sound living. Among the foreigners the handicrafts of Afghan origin are very popular.

Scores of business houses in Islamabad specialising in interior decoration hire the services of Afghan educated womenfolk on cheaper salaries. Most of the female entrepreneurs who have hired the services of Afghan educated girls seem happy with the work thesegirls perform. The Afghan men work in some of the foreign missions as experts on Afghanistan. Some perform guard duties at some of the missions.

Afghanlocalitiesare knownforcriminal/suspect inhabitants. Whenever heinous crimes occur, the police try to comb out the suspects in Afghan areas.