ReutersAn Afghan family, born in Pakistan, prepares to leave for Afghanistan in Karachi
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 13:34
Under pressure from the Pakistani government, thousands of Afghans are on their way to leave the country and return to Afghanistan. The UN and a number of Western countries are seriously concerned and are trying to prevent Afghans who fear for their lives in their own country from being forced to cross the border.
Tens of thousands of undocumented Afghans have already returned from Pakistan this month, according to estimates. The Pakistani government announced at the beginning of this month that all illegal migrants will be deported from the country after November 1. The reason given was the increasing number of attacks in Pakistan, often involving Afghan militants. They are said to have been trained in Afghanistan and could easily cross the 2,600 kilometer long border.
The number of Afghans who have left is only a fraction of the number of Afghans in Pakistan. In total, about 4 million Afghans live in the neighboring country, almost half of whom are without valid papers. This group also includes around 600,000 Afghans who fled after the extremist Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
The Pakistani authorities say that Afghans with temporary refugee status will be left alone, but in practice these people also fear arrest and deportation.
Correspondent Aletta André:
“Previously, there were already regular stories of Afghans being arrested, harassed and extorted. This also happened to Afghans with residence papers. Since the announcement at the beginning of this month, these practices have become more intensive – according to reports from human rights organization Human Rights Watch, among others. The Pakistani authorities deny this – but the stories do contribute to the exodus.
The UN refugee agency recorded 14,700 documented departures in October, more than double the 2022 total, with most citing fear of arrest as the reason. The decision also breaks up families, because sometimes some of the family members have residence papers and some do not.
For example, many Pakistani-born Afghans married Pakistanis, but never received residency status. In some cases the whole family just leaves.”
UN organizations fear that Afghans who are at high risk of being persecuted or executed in their own country will also become victims of Pakistan’s policy. UN refugee agency UNHCR, together with a number of NATO countries, is urging Pakistan to at least set up a screening system to protect the most vulnerable.
A US government official told Reuters that Washington has shared with Islamabad a list of 25,000 Afghans covered by a US migration program. This concerns Afghans who are at high risk. To qualify for transfer to the US, they first had to flee to a third country, in this case Pakistan.
Among the Afghans who have to leave the country, there are also those who were born in Pakistan and have lived there for decades. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many people fled to the neighboring country.
There is a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Two-thirds of the inhabitants depend on food aid. Women and girls in particular are having a hard time under the Taliban regime. They are not allowed to go to school, can hardly work and have few rights.
2023-10-31 12:34:25
#Pakistani #deadline #Afghans #approaching #fears #lives #return
