AI asks Pakistan to halt forced deportation of Afghan refugees

KABUL (Pajhwok): Amnesty International (AI) has asked Pakistan to immediately halt continued detentions, deportations and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees.

From September 2023 to February 2024, Pakistan has deported 527, 981 Afghan refugees with little regard to international human rights law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement.

“Thousands of Afghan refugees are being used as political pawns to be returned to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan where their life and physical integrity could be at risk amidst an intensified crackdown on human rights and an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. No one should be subjected to mass forced deportations, and Pakistan would do well to remember its international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement,” said Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns for South Asia.

“If the Pakistani government doesn’t halt the deportations immediately, it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.”

According to the government, more than 170,000 Afghans, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades, have had to leave the country since September 17 as the government gave an ultimatum for all ‘unregistered foreign nationals’ to leave Pakistan.

Since the expiry of the November 1 deadline imposed by the Government of Pakistan, the police have moved from registering cases under the Foreigners Act, 1946 which among other things criminalizes illegal entry into Pakistan, to directly detaining refugees deemed ‘illegal’ at deportation centers.

sa/ma