Kabul [Afghanistan], November 20 (ANI): The civil society activists in Pakistan have demanded to halt the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from the country, as many of them continue to face harsh circumstances amid the ongoing situation, TOLOnews reported.
A demonstration was organised by a few Pakistani lawyers, political activists, and members of civil society who wanted an end to the arrests and forceful removal of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
One of the protest organisers, the Joint Action Committee for Refugees, stated in a newsletter that Afghan refugees were subjected to harassment by the police and other law enforcement authorities following Pakistan’s decision to deport illegal immigrants, according to TOLOnews report.
These demonstrators claimed that Afghan refugees are being persecuted by Pakistani law forces.
“They have asked Pakistan to stop the process of refugees being forcibly deported from here and to allow them to stay legally,” TOLOnews quoted Sediq Kakar, an advocate in Pakistan, as saying.
In response to Pakistan’s decision to deport Afghan migrants from the country by November, the Taliban has said that Islamabad’s decision is cruel but the necessary preparations to deal with the refugees have been made in the country.
A senior Taliban official, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said that more than 400,000 individuals have returned to the nation thus far.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers it its duty to resettle the refugees who return to their homeland and cooperate if we have the facilities and we are sure that the returnee refugees are more than 400,000,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, according to TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, a few refugees who returned from Pakistan also discussed their plight and described the despicable actions of the country’s military.
“They destroyed our house; we had our own house. The Pakistani police forcibly dragged us and said that we will deport you and you have no right to stay in our country,” a returnee, Mazuddin, stated.
According to human rights organisations in Afghanistan, half of the people expelled from Pakistan are women and addressing their needs is becoming increasingly challenging as winter approaches, as per the news report.
Pakistan’s decision to expel over a million undocumented Afghan migrants starting in November this year has resulted in more than 327,000 Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
International human rights organisations have criticised Pakistan’s decision to expel undocumented Afghan migrants, which they have described as unjust, Khaama Press reported.
Nearly 400,000 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan in the past two months, TOLO News reported, citing the Taliban’s consul in Karachi, Abdul Jabar Takhari.
According to Takhari, the detention of Afghan refugees is still happening at a high rate in Pakistan. He said that nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees are currently in detention.
Pakistan’s interim government has decided to deport Afghan migrants forcefully from its country on November 1. (ANI)
