The government of Pakistan has started preparing the second phase of a controversial repatriation drive, sending Afghans back to their homeland. District and police authorities have been tasked to map and collect all the relevant data of their locations across the country.
Dawn has reported that authorities have been advised to expedite the mapping of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders. “We have already started the mapping process,” said Abid Majeed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s additional chief secretary. “It will pick up pace after Ramazan and we hope to complete the survey before April 30,” he said.
As of yet no date has been formally announced, however, an official told Dawn that it could begin in early to mid-summer, following approval from the federal government.
Amnesty International has called on Pakistan to immediately stop and reverse its decision of sending back Afghan people back to their country.
Pakistan began the repatriation process of “undocumented aliens” in November last year. The repatriation of Afghan refugees, which was part of the National Action Plan, has also now found its way into Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s 100-day working plan.
In all honesty, 2023 was more like a crazy roller coaster than a democratic process when it comes to Pakistani politics. Here are some of the significant events that happened this year:
Assemblies dissolved
On January 14, 2023, the provincial assembly of Punjab was dissolved while on January 16, 2023, Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was dissolved as former Prime Minister Imran Khan was pushing for early national elections.
May 9
On May 9, 2023, former prime minister and founder chairman of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan was submitting his biometric data for a court appearance when paramilitary forces broke down a window inside the court to get to apprehend him.
The dramatic and sudden arrest of the former cricket star turned leader resulted in violent clashes between supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and law enforcement agencies protests to mark the arrest of the former Prime Minister turned into riots.
Several military installations, including GHQ and the Lahore corps commander’s official residence, were attacked across the country within hours of Imran Khan’s detention.
May 9, termed a “black day” by the Pakistani state, ended up provoking a harsh military crackdown on Khan’s party.
PTI Dismantled
Thousands of PTI members, including many women, were rounded up and arrested after May 9 riots.
More than two dozen members of PTI resigned from the politics following the protests.
Notable figures like Shireen Mazari, Asad Umer, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Fawad Chaudhry, Maleeka Bokhari, Abrar ul Haq, Murad Ras, Ali Haider Zaidi, Imran Islamil, Usman Dar, Farrukh Habib, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Andleeb Abbas, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Shaukat Tarin and others either left PTI or quit politics.
Imran Khan Jailed
Police arrested Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore on August 5, 2023, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts, potentially barring the opposition leader from contesting an upcoming election.
On September 26, 2023, Imran Khan was shifted to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi from Attock prison, a day after the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to relocate him to the high-security jail.
Qazi Faez Isa
On September 17, 2023, Justice Qazi Faez Isa was sworn in as the 29th chief justice of Pakistan.
A ceremony was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad during which President Arif Alvi administered the oath of office. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir were also present.
Justice Isa was accompanied by his wife, Sarina Isa, while he was taking oath.
Imran Riaz ‘safely’ returns
On the evening of May 11, 2023, police arrested Imran Riaz Khan, a former anchor with the privately owned broadcaster Express News and host of a YouTube channel with over three million subscribers.
Imran Riaz Khan, often called Imran Riaz, was trying to flee the country over fears of his arrest. At the time, authorities accused him of inciting people to violence through his reporting.
He was said to have been freed a few days later, but there was no trace of him and police denied keeping him in custody.
On September 25, 2023, his lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq took to X (former Tiwtter) and posted a picture of Imran Riaz, after his return, stating that the recovery took a long time due to “countless difficulties, a weak judiciary” and the ineffectiveness of the Constitution. He also shared a photo of him with Khan.
The rift between Zardari and Bilawal
On November 23, 2023, the former president of Pakistan and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari‘s father, Asif Ali Zardari, during an exclusive interview with Hamid Mir on Geo News’ program “Capital Talk”, said that Bilawal is “inexperienced” and that it would take some time for him to gain more exposure, on Thursday.
“Bilawal is much more talented than I am, but he isn’t experienced,” he said.
On November 24, 2023, in a seeming act of defiance to his father, Bilawal changed his profile picture on X on Friday afternoon, to a photo with his mother Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister and head of the PPP till her assassination in 2017.
PPP denied all the claims of a rift between the father-son duo.
Afghan Refugees Repatriation
On October 3, 2023, Pakistan’s caretaker government announced it would carry out mass deportations — known under domestic law as an Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan — asking all concerned to leave the country before 1 November. Although the plan purported to apply to all foreigners residing in the country illegally, it appears designed to target Afghans, millions of whom have sought refuge in Pakistan over the years.
As of December 29, 2023, the total number of allegedly illegal Afghans who left Pakistan reached 453,480 and the process is still underway.
Nawaz Sharif Returns
On October 21, 2023, Pakistan’s thrice-elected former Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) supremo Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan, ending four years of self-imposed exile in London.
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified when the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) announced its decision on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case. After that, Nawaz Sharif and three of his children were referred to an accountability court, which was ordered to file corruption cases against Sharif’s family within six weeks.
In July 2018, the expelled prime minister was imprisoned for 10 years in the Avenfield properties corruption case, an assets-beyond-means trial.
In the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case, the PML-N supremo was sentenced to seven years in jail on December 24, 2018. Nawaz Sharif was taken to Adiala jail in this case, and then he was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on the very next day. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million in this case.
The former prime minister was released from jail in March 2019. After that, the Lahore High Court (LHC) allowed Nawaz Sharif to go to London for treatment for fast-depleting platelet levels, and then he left for London in November 2019.
Elections Date Announced
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on November 3, 2023, that 8th February 2024 is the poll date for the General Elections for the National Assembly of Pakistan and Provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The date was announced by the President House in a statement following a meeting between the top election officials and President Alvi, hours after the election commission lawyer told the Supreme Court that elections will be held on February 11.
PTI New Chairman
On December 2, 2023, The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) on Saturday elected Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the new chairman in the intra-party elections held on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Gohar won the chairman’s position unopposed.
The change was forced on the party after the Election Commission of Pakistan warned the PTI last month that it risked losing its emblem – a cricket bat – unless an internal ballot was held for party officers.
Election symbols are crucial in a country where the adult literacy rate is 58 percent, according to World Bank data.
Baloch Long March
Demanding the release of all “missing persons” and an end to “extrajudicial killing” in Balochistan under the leadership of activist Dr Mahrang Baloch and Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), the march started in Turbat, Balochistan, on December 6 after the alleged extrajudicial killing of 24-year-old Balach Baloch.
According to BYC, when the march reached the capital, the city administration didn’t allow them to protest in front of the press club. Maharng Baloch said in her live video from the Facebook page of BYC that Islamabad police arrested 300 male protesters, eight women, and 10 children.
Amidst the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, the media is uncovering instances of families getting ripped apart.
One such story is that of Bilal and Rabia in Karachi, who are now facing the risk of separation after 15 years of marriage, Geo has reported.
Bilal, born to immigrant Afghan parents in 1988, has lived all his life in Karachi. Rabia, originally from DG Khan, used to live in the same locality as Bilal. The two fell in love.
Bilal talked to his parents to ask for her hand in marriage, however, his brothers threatened to cut all ties with him if he married a Pakistani girl. Unfazed by their sentiments, he married Rabia. Bilal’s brothers left for Afghanistan and Rabia’s family gave them their consent and blessings.
Fifteen years on, the two are happy and Bilal is also taking care of his widowed mother-in-law and a divorced sister-in-law. In the wake of Afghan expulsion from the country, fear is looming over the couple’s minds constantly. Despite every effort to get Bilal a CNIC, he has not got one in all these years and the couple is determined to get it through a legal route.
Addressing this predicament, Bilal said, “I heard about the directive from the Peshawar High Court to grant identity cards to Afghan nationals married to Pakistani citizens. I joined the struggle in light of this landmark judgment. Unfortunately, it did not yield results. I regret not taking this matter more seriously at first. I was unaware that lacking an identity card in Pakistan could lead to separation from our families. My roots are in this country, and I have a deep affection for it. Regardless of legal decisions, our financial commitments are in Pakistan, and even if we are deported, our homeland will remain Pakistan.”
Rabia said, “My husband’s brothers have not accepted us in the fifteen years of our marriage. They even threatened us, saying if you return, we will harm you. I am worried for my husband because he is my only support. As for myself, why should I go anywhere? I am a Pakistani. They are not my people, and neither is Afghanistan my homeland.”
The couple, parents to five children, urged the government to review its decision or reconsider its policies regarding cases like their own.
In a series of video documents and reports released by the organization’s Lahore Chapter, a number of Pakistani Pashtuns are seen talking about how they are being taken in to deportation centres because they ‘look Afghan’. Their minor children, and in one case an Afghan’s wife and a two-month-old baby, been taken to holding centres in multiple raids conducted by the police.
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) November 4, 2023
The victims, visibly distressed, are complaining about the lack of information and resources as they do not know where the detainees are being taken and why. Some of them are being told that they will be taken to the borders for deportation because they do not hold registration cards and are assumed illegal by the government, even though their guardians hold the required documents.
There are incidents of minor legal document holders being deported too. One such example is 16-year-old Mansour, brother of Yaseen who holds a PoR card but he says the police have confiscated it from him putting him at further risk. The child is being sent on a bus to the border.
Yaseen is visibly scared! His 16 year old brother is still missing, nowhere to be found. His own ID was taken by the SHO of Alfalah Police Station in Malir, and he never gave it back. He’s, hence, at a risk of being detained himself. An absolute mockery of process and humanity! pic.twitter.com/n128V4ZXGz
Aurat March is claiming that there is a large number of poor Pakistani Pashtuns running from one police station to the other, trying to prove with their CNICs and birth certificates of their detained children, that they are legal citizens and not illegal immigrants.
Unfortunately, as confirmed by Aurat March, a video of a man doing rounds on social media where he is being told by the authorities that his son, a 17-year-old has been sent to Afghanistan after being picked up in a raid in Karachi, is true.
We reported this a few hours ago, where this person’s (a Pakistani citizen) 17 year old son was picked up. We have just learnt that he has been deported !. Who will be answerable for this? What will the 17 year old do when he arrives at the border?.#AfghanRefugeesInPakistanhttps://t.co/SOE6xIinUl
In another video, a man from Waziristan, a Pakistani citizen is showing his child’s birth certificate, which was missing a day ago and has received a call from his son who is now sent to Chaman for deportation. He goes on to prove his citizenship by showing his Watan card and the ID cards of his deceased father and brother too. He alleges that the money and the photocopy of the father’s ID card had been snatched away from the kid by the police.
It’s now over a day this Pakistani father is looking for his minor son – he is nowhere to be found. None of these documents are forged as your racist commentators would like you to believe. Where is his son? Has he also been packed in a bus and sent to Afghanistan? https://t.co/uTpk3uHSkjpic.twitter.com/dPWDuOMlR7
Activist Mehrub Awan posted on X a video of a police officer outside the Sultanabad detention centre stating that “The Pakistanis deported accidentally can’t be brought back”.
“The Pakistanis deported “accidentally” can’t be brought back”
Lawyer Moniza Kakar, while talking to The Current, explains that the number of 1.7 million as stated by the government is a vague one, and the number is not definite since registration of Afghans stopped when the Taliban took over. All those who entered Pakistan after that were given a token which has no legal status. Consequently, they also can’t have access to any legal shelter. Even then, petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court where Lawyers Umer Gilani and Sara Malkani will be representing. Many, including women and children, are being confused by authorities, allegedly for having an accent or looking similar to Afghans, said Kakar.
The government, however, is silent, raising questions over the transparency of the system and the very rushed way in which the process is being conducted. We have reached out to the interior ministry for a comment but they have not responded.
The Taliban government’s refugees minister, Khalil Haqqani, has said in an interview with AFP that, “They [Pakistani authorities] should not give Afghans a hard time, they should not make more enemies.” The statement was said in the context of the mass exodus of refugees from Pakistan under the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.
Authorities on the Afghanistan side have established centres several kilometres from a border crossing along with camps for families in what was described as an “emergency situation” by the Afghan officials. “We are constantly in contact with them [Pakistani authorities] asking for more time. People must be allowed to return with dignity,” he reiterated.
Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi also visited the Torkham border and asserted that the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan is in violation of International laws. He also mentioned that the ones coming back are their brethren and this is their home. To address all their problems will be the first priority of the government.
The spokesperson for The Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan and caretaker Interior Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, held a discussion with Afghan High Commissioner Ahmed Shakaib, deciding that children and women will be exempted from scanning by NADRA. Only male adults will be scanned for verification.
“The interior ministry issued directions that females and children below the age of 14 will not be scanned for entry by NADRA. Only male adults would be scanned during the voluntary repatriation,” reported Dawn. Only a “head count” of women and children will be done for record purposes.
The decision was made keeping in context the heavy influx of Afghan citizens on the borders as the deadline for leaving has passed and deportation has started. A huge number of people are also coming in for voluntary repatriation and it was feared that the situation could spiral out of control. This directive could smoothen the process a bit.
Authorities are asked to be gentle as any aggression will lead to consequences. A special helpline number has been set up by the ministry and every complaint will be catered to on an emergency basis. The Afghan Embassy has also been asked to send a representative who can work closely with the Interior Ministry.
وزیراعظم پاکستان @anwaar_kakar کی خصوصی ہدایت پر غیر قانونی طور پر پاکستان میں مقیم غیرملکیوں کے انخلاء کے حوالے سے وزارت داخلہ نے خصوصی ہیلپ لائن قائم کی ہے، جس کے نمبر 051111367226 اور 0519211685 ہیں۔ pic.twitter.com/NPjcuLFU1m
So far, 165,000 Afghan immigrants have left for Afghanistan during voluntary repatriation. On Thursday, a total of 19,344 undocumented immigrants left via Torkham.
Officials at the border crossing in Angoor Adda in KP’s South Waziristan district said that 294 Afghan immigrants, including 129 children, voluntarily left for Afghanistan on Thursday.
Out of 572 refugees taken into custody, 200 were sent back as they produced valid documents while 384 were sent to Chaman for deportation. 1,176 Afghans volunteered to reach Chaman on their own.
The crackdown in Punjab will start today as per the officials.
The government of Pakistan launched a crackdown against illegal foreigners on October 3 while a deadline of November 1 was announced for the immigrants to voluntarily leave the country or face deportation. The program has been given the name of IFRP-The Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.
The interim federal Minister for Interior, Sarfraz Bugti, categorically announced that that there will be, “No compromise” after the deadline.
Stats reveal that 90,000 Afghans have left the country and a number of families are driving back home via Torkham and Chaman borders to avoid the hassle of the deadline.
Breakdown of the Afghan Population in Pakistan
The government has recognized that a total of three million Afghans are residing all over the country out of which 1.7 million are unregistered and undocumented. The rest are the ones who have Proof of Registration with UNHCR or hold Afghan Citizen Card. As per UNHCR, the population of Afghan refugees has grown to 3.7 million while only 1.3 million are officially registered. There was a particular rise in the influx of the population after the exodus of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan. Breaking down the figures, it’s observed that as of June 2023, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa hosts 52.6 percent (735,800) of Pakistan’s undocumented Afghan population, Balochistan accounts for 24.1 percent (321,677), Punjab has 14.3 percent (191,053), Sindh houses 5.5 percent (73,789), Islamabad accommodates 3.1 percent (41,520), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir hosts 0.3 percent (4,352).
Government’s Repatriation plan
After November 1, raids will be conducted to bring all to “holding centres” and carry out the deportation plan. The government’s deportation plan as laid out by the caretaker Interior Minister is divided into three phases. The plan was laid out in detail in an interview with journalist Shehzad Iqbal on Geo TV. He clearly mentioned that this plan is for “all the Afghans” present in Pakistan and goes on to explain the varying types of them.
In phase one, refugees without any evidence of authorisation or travel documents will be brought to the deportation centres and will be sent to the borders to go back to Afghanistan.
The second phase includes the immigrants who have infiltrated the system of citizenship via illegal means. In the words of the interim minister, they have “breached” the system of NADRA.
The last phase includes the repatriation of the ones who hold documents or are registered with UNHCR. The Government will track them down eventually as “geo-mapping” is completed, claimed the Minister. Meanwhile, they can fully avail the opportunity of open borders to leave peacefully. The holding centers will serve as a temporary home for those to be deported by the Government in a matter of days. Centers are reportedly established in all the provinces and state machinery has been activated to get the task done in time.
Government’s Crackdown
Even though the Government is pledging to take action after November 1, there are multiple reports of raids being made in different cities before the deadline. For instance, one raid in Islamabad Marriot made it to the headlines as the Government arrested UK, asylum seekers. They have been waiting for two years in Pakistan withheld by the UK government in hopes of immigrating to UK, since the Taliban’s takeover. British High Commission has sped up the process after the raid.
Stance of the Pakistan’s government
The motives of the Pakistani government are clear. “In the 24 blasts that took place in the year 2023, 14 were carried out by Afgan nationals,” claimed the Interior Minister. He also claims Afghan nationals are involved in the rising crime ratio of the country. The government strongly denies allegations that the move is reactionary.
Status of Afghans in Pakistan’s society and economy
Afghan nationals residing in the country have a significant contribution to the economy. Most of them started out with small jobs involving physical labour but are now well-established. One such account is narrated by the spokesman of Anjuman-e-Tajiran Balochistan Haji Allah Dad Tareen who sees Pakistan as his home country as younger generations have been born and raised here and they made a living from scratch. “We did not have much economic stability in Quetta before the Afghan Civil War when the people came here, they had lands, agriculture, livestock back at home which were all sold and they invested their money in Pakistan to make a living. This is how the past forty years passed and their young generation belongs to Pakistan, completely. They were born here, they’ve grown up and got educated and completely assimilated in the society just like other locals have,” he said. It is one of many examples. According to Humayun Khan, an economic expert, the PTI Government under Imran Khan offered citizenship to these Afghan Nationals because they realized that if these Afghans went back, this would cause a “revenue drain” on Pakistan’s economy.
Reception of the Repatriation Program
The decision has invited mixed reactions from civil society, activists, journalists, politicians, and netizens from different walks of life.
Afghan government’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid called the decision “unacceptable”.
He also denounced the involvement of Afghans in the terrorist attacks in Pakistan. This indicates an impending rift between the two states.
In an interview for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hina Jillani, with journalist Rabia Mehmood, called the decision “Irrational, unreasonable, unauthorized and unlawful.”
Hina Jilani, chair @HRCP87 emphasised in @NewWaveGlobal_ discussion that Pak interim govt has no mandate to set policy on expulsion of Afghan refugees/asylumseekers a decision which is irrational, unreasonable, unauthorised & unlawful by Pk state. pic.twitter.com/HdlNTpD0Q8
Women’s Democratic Front exposed that the government is deporting the ones holding registration cards and is not allowing them to take their cattle and cash along with them.
The news that even the registered card holding refugees are being deported and are not being allowed to take their belongings especially cattle & cash is unjust and cruel. This further dispossesses an already marginalised people.
— Women Democratic Front ناری جمھوری محاذ (@wdf_pk) October 30, 2023
Moniza Kakar, a human rights lawyer vocal about the pleas of Afghan refugees, along with Aurat March Karachi, organized a peaceful protest to call out the government on the forceful deportation of the Afghan Refugees.
Participated in a protest organized by #AuratMarch against Pakistan’s unjust mass deportation of Afghan refugees. It was heartening to see a diverse group of civil society members from Karachi come together to raise their voices against this unjust policy. #RefugeeRightspic.twitter.com/4FsY8AAJhi
Shafiq Ahmed, an advocate on Twitter, highlighted the issue of forceful expulsion of a huge population to a land they have fled from.
A refugee shall not be deported to a State where his life or liberty would be threatend for reasons of race , colour, religion, political belief or membership of a particular social group.#RefugeesRights#AfghanRefugees#StopDeportingAfghanRefugees
In Geo TV’s show Report Card, journalist Mazhar Abbas questioned the capacity of NADRA to have complete information about all the illegal aliens countering the claims of Caretaker Interior Minister Bugti to have done complete geo-mapping.
Renowned Journalist Azaz Syed is critical of the decision and called it “emotional” in its spirit because many such attempts have been done before by UNHCR but it has turned out that they take the money and come back making use of the porous border.
پاکستان میں افغان مہاجرین کی وطن وآپسی پر بے جا جذباتی پن کا مظاہرہ کیا جارہا ہے۔ کاش ہم ہوش کے ناخن لیں۔ کینیڈا میں سلمی ا زاہد نامی پاکستانی نے 15 سال میں وہاں محنت کرکے اپنا مقام بنایا اور پارلیمینٹ کی رکن بنیں ہم اپنے ہم وطنوں کے لیے بیرون ممالک میں حقوق مانگتے ہیں مگر… pic.twitter.com/HHRRYDirr9
Irshad Bhatti, congratulated the Government and military leadership on this historic decision.
The government, however, has kept the decision intact and maintained that they are ready for the fallout if any because such hard decisions come with all the positives and negatives.
Hyderabad chapter of Aurat March refused to protest against the repatriation plan while the march was criticised by civil rights activist including Anis Haroon, retired Justice Majida Razvi and many others stating, “How long Sindh would bear the burden of illegal immigrants when it owns 37 percent of the rural population [that] lives below the poverty line?”
Bugti wants the move to be perceived as Pakistan’s change of image from a soft state to a “hardened” one. He asserted that Pakistani government is determined to send these foreigners to their homelands in a step-wise manner.
Interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti has declared that the operation against illegal foreigners will start from November 2 as the deadline given to them is ending today. The deportation will take place in different phases from here on.
According to the Afghan Commission, as many as 104,000 Afghan refugees living illegally in Pakistan have returned to Afghanistan so far. The undocumented refugees included 28,000 men and 19,000 women and 56,000 thousand children.
The caretaker federal cabinet approved that provinces will bear the expenses of the logistics. Caretaker Chief Minister Maqbool Baqar gave his nod to allocating Rs.4.5 billion to carry out the Repatriation plan from Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas and Larkana divisions.
49 holding centres have been established all over the country.These illegal foreigners are being brought to holding centres after registration. A huge number has already reached the Chaman border to leave whereas the ones in the centers will be sent gradually according to the plan.
However, there are reports of a crackdown in different cities of the country like Karachi, Hyderabad, Sargodha, Mianwali and Khushab. Caretaker Information Minister Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah Kakakhel told the media that, “We’ve identified and mapped 52,000 illegal residents in various districts of our province for action.” “These [undocumented] foreigners will be temporarily kept in designated processing zones from where they will be deported to their respective countries,” he added on. Mr Kakakhel said that under the plans, the exercise would be executed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Friday and Saturday in Punjab, and on Wednesday and Thursday in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He also announced that from Nov 1, the federal government would begin a “single-document” policy welcoming those entering Pakistan on passport and visas only.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has urged Pakistan to allow undocumented Afghans in the country more time to leave as pressure mounts at border posts swarmed by thousands of returnees fleeing the threat of deportation.
Islamabad has given 1.7 million Afghans it says are living illegally in the country until November 1 to leave voluntarily or be forcibly removed.
More than 130,000 people have left Pakistan since the order was given at the start of October, according to border officials in the towns of Torkham and Chaman, creating bottlenecks at either sides of crossings.
In a statement late Tuesday, Taliban authorities thanked Pakistan and other countries that have hosted millions of Afghans who fled their country during decades of conflict, but “asked them to not forcibly deport Afghans with little notice but to give them time to prepare”.
Since taking power in 2021, the Taliban government has urged Afghans to return home, but has also condemned Pakistan’s actions, saying nationals are being punished for tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, and calling for people to be given more time to depart.
Amidst the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, a large number of children born and raised in Pakistan, not ready to leave their friends and schools, are being forced to leave too. Videos featuring the children bidding farewells are going viral on the internet.
In one, a young Afghani boy can be seen saying goodbye to his classmates.
In another one, little Afghan girls can be seen singing the National Anthem and expressing their disappointment on leaving since all they know is that Pakistan is their home.
Worrisome pictures have also emerged on X (formerly Twitter) with claims that some of the Afghan children are being presented in court after being arrested from their madrassahs and schools in Karachi. Afghan refugee advocate Moniza Kakkar has said, “This raises serious concerns about their legal rights as refugees”.
Afghan children appearing in court R being treated as criminals & unjustly convicted.This raises serious concerns about their legal rights as refugees. Today, they were produced in court.They were arrested at their school/Madrassa in Karachi 45 days ago. #RefugeesRightspic.twitter.com/oEzWSeDsZt
