Pashtun Labour Migration: A case study of Hussain Ali Village, Lower Kurram ( 1970-2015)

Abstract

Pashtuns are historically one of the most mobile communities in the world, and have experienced varying trends and patterns of migration during different eras. Based on qualitative ethnographic fieldwork in the Kurram Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (former FATA), this paper delineates the phenomenon of chain migration from the region since the 1970s. Like other Pashtun dominated regions, the residents of Kurram valley have migrated to the Middle East as a result of changes in the political economy of Pakistan, such as Ayub Khan’s ‘Green Revolution’ and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s labour and foreign policies. Pashtun emigrations since the 1970s’ have efficaciously impacted the socio-economic and political outlook of the region, as well as the health conditions of migrants’ and their perceptions of ‘happiness’. Besides economic factors, the paper will discuss how Pashtun migrations to the Middle East were influenced by sectarian conflict and violence - came to be enmeshed on various levels with the War on Terror in the Kurram valley. As a consequence, the youth of the area faced deprivation and disenfranchisement when relying on ‘illegal’ means in the pursuit of a secure and better life.