KOHAT – After spending nearly four decades educating generations of Afghan refugee children, 291 Pakistani teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have found themselves unemployed, allegedly without receiving gratuity, compensation or other service benefits following the termination of their employment by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The dismissals, reportedly communicated on October 31, have triggered protests in Peshawar, with affected teachers accusing the UN refugee agency of disregarding longstanding employment commitments and leaving hundreds of families struggling with financial uncertainty. Among those affected are 191 female and 100 male teachers, many of whom claim to have dedicated almost their entire professional lives to educating Afghan children in refugee camps across the province.
The teachers have now sought urgent intervention from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and the federal government, demanding an investigation into their dismissal and immediate payment of outstanding financial entitlements.
According to the affected teachers, their employment came to an unexpected end on October 31 when they were summoned late at night and informed that their services were no longer required.
They alleged that the decision was communicated without any satisfactory explanation or arrangements for paying gratuity and other benefits accumulated during their years of service.
The teachers maintained that they had worked for decades under formal agreements and arrangements with UNHCR, continuing their educational responsibilities in refugee settlements despite changing circumstances.
They claimed that the sudden termination had not only deprived them of their livelihoods but also raised serious questions about the commitments made to Pakistani employees working in refugee education programmes.
The growing frustration among dismissed employees surfaced publicly when their representatives, Tufail Ahmed and Farhana Durrani, addressed a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday. A day later, affected teachers staged a demonstration outside the UNHCR office in Peshawar, demanding an explanation for the dismissals and settlement of their outstanding financial claims.
The representatives said all 291 employees had been left without work despite having served Afghan refugee communities for decades. They alleged that repeated attempts to contact UNHCR regarding gratuity, compensation and other dues had failed to produce a response.
Tufail Ahmed said the teachers had spent their working lives helping Afghan children secure a better future, only to find themselves facing an uncertain future after losing their jobs. He claimed that several applications had been submitted to the organization seeking payment of outstanding benefits, but their concerns remained unanswered.
Alongside their employment grievances, the dismissed teachers called for an investigation into the financial arrangements governing their salaries. Their representatives alleged that funds and salary allocations were received in US dollars while the Pakistani teaching staff had been receiving relatively small payments in local currency for years.
They demanded scrutiny of the alleged difference between international funding and the amounts actually disbursed to teachers. The protesters urged the government to establish whether financial irregularities had occurred and to ensure accountability if any discrepancies were identified. They maintained that employees who had served for decades deserved transparency regarding the financial resources allocated for their remuneration.
Farhana Durrani alleged that UNHCR had previously given assurances that the teachers’ employment interests would remain protected, even after Afghan refugees eventually departed Pakistan. She claimed that the organization had also indicated that arrangements would be made to accommodate the teaching staff following the departure of refugee communities.
However, according to Durrani, those commitments were not fulfilled before the termination of all 291 employees. She further alleged that teachers had been asked to continue educating Afghan children whose refugee status in Pakistan had been de-notified, with promises of continued salaries and benefits.
Durrani said she had refused the proposed arrangement. She argued that the abrupt dismissals contradicted earlier assurances and employment understandings, leaving Pakistani educators without the financial security they had expected after decades of work.
The consequences of the dismissals have reportedly extended far beyond the classrooms, affecting households dependent on the teachers’ salaries. Durrani said several affected employees were dealing with heart-related illnesses, while others were struggling to meet their children’s educational expenses and family responsibilities.
Some teachers, she claimed, were facing difficulties arranging funds for their daughters’ marriages and other essential household needs. She further alleged that the financial situation had deteriorated to the point where some dismissed employees could no longer afford to travel to Peshawar to participate in the protest.
The representatives described the situation as particularly distressing for teachers who had devoted nearly 40 years to the same educational programme and were now facing unemployment without receiving their claimed financial dues.
Durrani said the teachers had worked to improve the future of Afghan children but were now watching their own families struggle because of the sudden loss of income.
The demonstration outside the UNHCR office has also become a source of concern for the affected employees, who accused police of pressuring them to abandon their protest.
Tufail Ahmed said he had established a protest camp outside the organization’s Peshawar office three days earlier to highlight the teachers’ demands. However, he alleged that no UNHCR representative had approached the protesters for negotiations or offered a solution. Instead, he claimed, police personnel were threatening protesters with arrest or removal from the site.
Ahmed insisted that the teachers were conducting a peaceful demonstration and had no intention of violating the law. He said their only objective was to draw attention to their financial grievances and secure the benefits they believed were owed to them. The representatives appealed to the authorities to protect their right to protest peacefully without intimidation.
With their appeals to UNHCR allegedly going unanswered, the affected educators have turned to KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and the federal government for assistance. They urged the authorities to formally raise the matter with UNHCR and examine the circumstances in which hundreds of Pakistani teachers were dismissed after decades of service.
Their demands include payment of outstanding gratuity, compensation and other financial entitlements, along with an investigation into alleged discrepancies between international funding and local salary payments. The representatives also called for accountability over any violations of previous employment commitments.
Durrani appealed to the government not to overlook the difficulties facing employees who had dedicated much of their lives to refugee education. She said urgent intervention was necessary to prevent further hardship among the affected families.
The dismissed employees belong to different districts and localities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi, Haripur, Mardan, Timergara, Kohat, Chakdara, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Hangu, Tal, Jalala and Shergarh.
Their representatives maintained that the dispute was not limited to the loss of employment but also concerned the financial rights of Pakistani citizens who had spent decades working in refugee education. The teachers vowed to continue their peaceful demonstrations until their outstanding claims were addressed and a satisfactory resolution was reached.
UNHCR has yet to respond to the serious allegations raised by affected teachers regarding the circumstances and nature of their termination, alleged violations of employment commitments, and non-payment of gratuity, compensation and other service benefits after nearly four decades of service.
