Return Policy and Ethnic Identity Construction in Third Generation Afghan Refugees in Islamabad, Pakistan: A Grounded Theory Approach

Abstract

Pakistan has been hosting the largest refugee community in South Asia since 1979, after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, which completed its four decades in the country in 2023. To deal with the protracted refugee situation in the country, the Government has gradually built on the policy directives alongside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mainly targeted towards the management of the populations alongside their gradual integration. This has enabled the country to host the refugees generously for the past four decades. However, the refugee population lies outside the jurisdiction of the natural population, facing challenges that exacerbate as the period of their displacement prolongs. In the fourth decade of displacement, the Afghan refugee populations have their second and third generations in Pakistan. The first and the second generation, by family, have had to adjust to the realities of the war and displacement alongside integration, however, it is the third generation who has had to adjust to a unique ethnic identity position, balanced between their ethnic cultures and the cultures of the host society. In this, with the imposition of the return policy this generation stands at the crossroads of the anticipation of return and assessing their identity positions. The purpose of the study is to explore the ethnic identity construction in third generation Afghan refugees in Islamabad, Pakistan, and to assess the shifts in perception of the third generation towards the host states and societies and their identity positions in the middle of the implementation of the return policy in 2023. The research has been conducted using the research methodological tools as per the constructivist grounded theory. The present study is based off primary data that has been collected using semi-structured interviews from the third generation Afghan individuals, approached through nonprobability sampling techniques of snowball sampling. The interviews were conducted in Pashto and Urdu languages and were translated and transcribed into English language before coding. The data has been analyzed through coding, as per the requisites of grounded theory, which consists of drawing codes from the data, drawing relationships between the codes drawn, and lastly, finalizing the themes from the selected codes. The study finds ethnic identity construction to be a complex process occurring throughout the lives of the individuals belonging to refugee backgrounds. The identity construction among third-generation refugees occurs over the course of lives with influences from the host society, the host authorities, the digital technology, and their families. The findings reveal that the refugee individuals to adopt traits of either a bicultural identity or entirely ethnic identity as a result of the responses to these influencing actors. Their identity content, the defining feature of their ethnic identity reveals the factor with the greatest influence. The identity contents in the third-generation Afghan refugees reveal a wide range including literature, lineage, place memory, dissociation from the host society, culture, language, and acceptance from the society. The study finds the in-group links to create a sense of solidarity and generate a unique sense of belonging, extended to the members of the group from the homeland. Lastly, in investigation of the effect of the return policy, the study finds that third-generation refugee individuals have been going through a redefinition of their identity positions as they navigate their lives with revised perceptions towards their own selves, faced with feelings dehumanization; the host society, as they find themselves disengaged from it; and the host government, who they are increasingly resentful of. Policies towards the refugee populations should be formulated according to the unique needs of the populations, keeping in consideration the complex nuances of effects of positionality of self the target populations undergo due to policies.