Afghan refugees yearn to vote
Reuters
2014-03-28
Views 156
In Afghanistan, election fever is gaining pitch with candidates wooing potential voters everyday.
But here at this refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar, April 5 will just be another ordinary day.
There are 80 camps like this across Pakistan home to some 1.6 million Afghan refugees.
But none of them will have a say in who will be the next leader of the country.
Many can't return home due to the violence for the April 5 polls. Others are just too poor.
(SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) AFGHAN REFUGEE HAJI SARBULAND SAYING:
"We are unable to go to Afghanistan. Therefore, it would be nice if an office is set up here. We will vote for whoever is a good candidate."
When incumbent president Hamid Karzai was voted into power in 2004, candidates ran lively campaigns in Pakistan, heralding a democratic rule after the fall of the Taliban.
But this time, the elections are a far away event on the other side of the border.
But here at this refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar, April 5 will just be another ordinary day.
There are 80 camps like this across Pakistan home to some 1.6 million Afghan refugees.
But none of them will have a say in who will be the next leader of the country.
Many can't return home due to the violence for the April 5 polls. Others are just too poor.
(SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) AFGHAN REFUGEE HAJI SARBULAND SAYING:
"We are unable to go to Afghanistan. Therefore, it would be nice if an office is set up here. We will vote for whoever is a good candidate."
When incumbent president Hamid Karzai was voted into power in 2004, candidates ran lively campaigns in Pakistan, heralding a democratic rule after the fall of the Taliban.
But this time, the elections are a far away event on the other side of the border.
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