The Kacha Garhi of Pakistani Refugees: Visiting a New Tragedy

Only the color of the burqas (veils) was different in the Kacha Garhi refugee camp: the Afghan women wore blue and the Pakistani females from conflict-torn Bajaur Agency wear light khaki.

The Kacha Garhi refugee camp was originally set up for Afghan refugees in 1980 near Hayat Abad, the heart of Peshawar, and had housed more than 70,000 refugees until it was vacated and closed in 2007. But soon, it was reopened to the internally displaced people (IDPs), majority of them from Bajaur Agency, who were forced to leave their homes by the fighting between militants and security forces.

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