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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Afghan Factories Pakistan
HEADLINE: Afghan Textile Mill Owners in Pakistan Worried Over Refugee Crackdown
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 11/16/2023 at 9:40am
BYLINE: Muska Safi
CONTRIBUTOR: Roshan Noorzai
DATELINE: Munda Camp, Charsadda, Pakistan
VIDEOGRAPHER: Muska Safi
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: newhouse, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VIDEO#1: https://app.frame.io/player/3ce1654a-01dd-4ae1-987e-3645b912ef77
Video#2: https://app.frame.io/player/1a596ed7-de4b-4dcc-9cd1-bc0a5811c03a
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:01
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVR Package
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) The Afghan owners of textile mills in Pakistan say that they are facing multiple problems running their businesses because of Pakistan’s ongoing deportations of undocumented Afghan refugees. Muska Safi has the story from Munda refugee camp in Pakistan, narrated by Elizabeth Cherneff.))
((NARRATOR))
This is one of the dozens of textile mills near Peshawar, Pakistan, owned and run by Afghan refugees.
Some of these refugees have lived in Pakistan their entire lives.
Now they fear deportation and worry their businesses will not survive.
((For Radio: Ghulam Ali is an Afghan refugee who owns a textile mill))
(((Ghulam Ali, Afghan Textile Mill Owner)) ((Male, Dari))
“Because of the issue of [deportation of] Afghans, our businesses have been very much affected. We sent most of our products to Afghanistan, but now the Torkham crossing is shut.”
((NARRATOR))
There are around 40 textile factories here in the Shabqadar area, where the Munda refugee camp is located.
The owners are Afghans, most of whom hold Afghan Citizen Cards, Pakistan-issued identification that protects them from deportation.
But the Afghans say that even with proper ID, they still have problems.
((For Radio: Amanullah is an Afghan refugee who owns a textile mill))
(((Amanullah, Afghan Textile Mill Owner)) ((Male, Dari)))
“We have this card, and we can’t open a [bank] account with it. It can’t be used for installing [an electric] meter. It can’t be used to get a [business] warranty. We have a lot of problems, and if this issue is addressed, then our business could do better.”
((NARRATOR))
These factories employ many Afghan refugees and Pakistani locals.
((For Radio: Mohammad Bilal is a Pakistani citizen who works in the mill.))
((Mohammad Bilal, Pakistani Textile Mill Worker)) (Male, Pashto)))
“He is our Afghan brother. I have been working with him for about two months now.”
((NARRATOR))
Some of these low-paying laborers are the sole breadwinners of their families.
((For Radio: Loqman is an Afghan Refugee who is working in a textile mill))
((Loqman, Afghan Refugee)) (Male, Pashto)))
“I am paid 70 to 80 dollars per month, though it is not enough for my family to live on.”
((NARRATOR))
Loqman says he does not have any refugee documents, and he is afraid he could be deported and lose his job.
Pakistan has begun deporting 1.7 million undocumented refugees early this month. UN officials say that since mid-September, about 330 thousand undocumented Afghans have returned to Afghanistan.
((For Muska Safi in Islamabad, Pakistan, Elizabeth Cherneff, VOA News))
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