PESHAWAR, June 13: The massive repatriation of Afghan refugees during the last three months has started taking toll on the economic scene of the NWFP with far reaching repercussion around the corner.

The production of hand-made carpet has showed a downward trend and Afghans investors are shifting their businesses to their country.

The fast growing carpet industry has plunged into a crisis in the province. The daily wage-earners’ rate have gone up by Rs5 to Rs10. The real estate business, private education institutions and general business are all showing signs of slump following the return of over 7000,000 refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Hand-knot carpet, a major export item of the Frontier province received serious setback during the last couple of months due to the return of skilled workers and registered sharp decrease in carpet export this year. During the current financial year carpet export figures stood at $68.53 million while last year the figures touched $130.14 million according to All Pakistan Commercial Export Association.

Carpet dealers say that roughly 52,000 looms have closed down, out of total 60,000 in the province. Apart from this 75 per cent skilled carpet and rug weavers have gone back to their country since the fall of the Taliban government. About half a million Afghan nationals were involved in the carpet-related business in Pakistan.

Shahid Munir, associated with the carpet business, said that artisans were on their way back to Afghanistan and feared that the remaining looms in the province were likely to be closed down after the Loya Jirga proceedings end. He said the Afghan investors had stopped investment in carpet manufacturing projects near Peshawar.

“In fact, the government did not plan to settle Afghan artisans,” he maintained, saying that many Afghans had left Pakistan due to the police high-handedness. He said the Iranian government shifted some 8,000 skilled craftsmen from Pakistan to boost their carpet industry.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has engaged an Islamabad-based organisation to assess the impact of the massive repatriation of the refugees on Pakistan’s economy, an official told Dawn. The UN refugee agency said that over 700,000 refugees have returned to Afghanistan from the NWFP and the adjacent tribal areas under the ongoing voluntary repatriation programme and expected further increase in the number of the returnees.

Many localities of the provincial capital where the refugees had over-numbered the local population and occupied business wore a deserted look. In Hayatabad, University Road, Nasir Bagh Road, Shaheen Town, Faqirabad and other localities Afghan tenants have vacated a large number of residential buildings, badly affecting the construction sector.

Mohammad Ishaq, a property dealer, said that house rents and property prices had come down sharply. He said that the price of a five merla plot had decreased from Rs600,015 to 300,500 while the rent of a kanal house had reduced from Rs15,000 to Rs9,000 in Hayatabad.

A construction company manager said that following the return of Afghans local labourers raised their daily wages from Rs75 to Rs85. In Kabul the daily wages rate is about $4.

The repatriation programme has also affected the private education sector business. Information collected by Dawn from various private educational institutions revealed that a sizable number of the Afghan students have left schools and language centres. Around 100,000 Afghan children were getting education in public and private sector schools and colleges of Peshawar.

Provincial minister for Industry Mohsin Aziz is of the view that this was a transitional phase and the impact of the repatriation of Afghans on the economy would not be so serious. He said the local population would find employment and business opportunities, because the refugees had dominated the business sector. Local population, the minister said, had already fed up with the presence of the refugees.

He said the carpet industry would not be affected, because the carpet washing and finishing was not possible in Afghanistan and the manufacturers would have to bring their products back to Peshawar for this purpose.