Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the 1980s: Cold War politics and registration practice

This paper examines how Pakistan’s refugee policy was shaped by the political setting of the Afghanistan conflict, the registration procedures put in place by the Pakistani authorities and its effects on the work of UNHCR. This paper reviews the Cold War context to better understand the particular characteristics of this refugee situation. This is followed by an examination of the political organization of the Afghans in Pakistan, which formed the basis for the refugee registration procedures applied in Pakistan. These procedures will then be scrutinized with a particular view on its effects on the work of the UNHCR and, in particular, on its practice of refugee registration.