Afghan refugees in Pakistan concerned about expulsion

ISLAMABAD (Pajhwok): The Pakistan government’s decision to resume the forced return process of Afghan refugees on April 15 has made Afghan refugees living in Pakistan worried.

According to reports, Pakistan last year expelled around 500,000 Afghans and now Islamabad wants to resume the process of Afghan refugees’ evacuation.

Nargis Nahtani, an Afghan refugee living in Pakistan for the past two years, is worried about the Pakistan government’s decision to resume the evacuation of Afghan refugees.

She said: “Afghan refugees living in Pakistan face a lot of problems, all are here because of their problems, some are for waiting their case evaluation but they are told to be expelled which will have a negative impact on our cases, our cases could not be evaluated from Afghanistan.”

As a result of the closure of embassies of some countries in Afghanistan, Afghans relocate to other countries such as Pakistan, Iran or Tajikistan to process their foreign asylum cases.

Nahtani asked the Pakistani government to stop the forced expulsion of Afghan refugees and asked the international community to provide support for Afghan refugees in this regard.

Abdul Hameed, another Afghan refugee who had been in Pakistan for the past year, said he was worried about the Afghan government’s decision to expel Afghan refugee.

He said: “At least individuals who entered Pakistan legally and registered with the UN and still have visas should not be expelled, because they are for waiting their cases to be processed, if they return to Afghanistan they will face a number of problems.”

Abdul Hameed said: “Instead of making conditions difficult for Afghans, the government of Pakistan can find a better solution, for example, waiving fines and easing the process of issuing and renewing visas can help refugees.”

Some other refugees also expressed similar concerns and asked the Pakistan government to nullify its decision of expelling Afghan refugees.

Pakistan in November 2023 started the Afghan refugees forced return process which led to the expulsion of hundred thousands of Afghan refugees.

Monasah Mubarez, a human rights activist, said that Pakistan harassed many Afghans during their forced return process.

“They conducted search house to house, harassed people, Afghans are in Pakistan to resolve their problems and it is the moral duty of Pakistan to cooperate with them,” she said.

Mubarez said: “My colleagues and I talked to the officials of various departments in the first phase of the evacuation of refugees, we had justice seeking groups, we had meetings with UNHCR and the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan, but our efforts produced no result.”

Qaisar Khan Apridai, spokesperson of the UNHRC in Pakistan, said they were concerned about reports regarding the expulsion process of foreigners specially Afghan refugees.

He said UNHCR was working with Afghan government to form a system in which the concern of Pakistan government and Afghan refugees are addressed.

Afghan government had said that were ready for the return of Afghan refugees and efforts were underway to provide them with food and other essential facilities.

Pakistani government was not reached for comment in this regard.

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