For the first time since the start of the repatriation plan of undocumented immigrants early this month, not a single ‘illegal alien’ was sent home via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday as Afghan authorities has announced to link the acceptance of deportations with the verification of their status by the Afghan consulate-general here.
The decision was made after multiple cases of Afghan-looking Pakistanis being deported to Afghanistan surfaced. “Multiple cases of Pakistanis being sent to Afghanistan as illegal migrants have been reported,” an official source in the Afghan Consulate told Dawn.
Unfortunately, whenever Afghan authorities took such Pakistanis to the border, Pakistani officials refused to receive them.
The other reason stated by Afghan consulate is the harassment Afghan deportees are facing at the hands of Pakistani authorities even though many of them are repatriating voluntarily.
“Many illegal aliens are leaving Pakistan voluntarily but they’re stopped and taken into custody on their way before their repartition. They’re not given time to carry their belongings,” an official told Dawn.
Afghan consulate expressed concern over the separation of families that has been observed over the month. They said in “many” cases, men from undocumented families were deported, leaving behind their female dependants.
Pakistani authorities have said that they have not been informed about the deportation condition, claiming that all allegations leveled by Afghan consulate are “baseless”, delaying the process of deportation.
“Only deportation is linked with the verification letter. The voluntary repatriation is still continuing without any hurdle,” Pakistan responded.
However, around 119 illegal migrants were deported from Punjab to Afghanistan via the Torkham border crossing on Thursday, according to officials.
Pakistan is being widely criticised for instituting exit fees amounting to hundreds of dollars for Afghan refugees awaiting relocation to the United Kingdom and other Western nations.
The imposition of exit fees, totalling around $830 (PKR 236,387), for Afghan refugees seeking resettlement in Western countries has drawn strong condemnation from Western diplomats and the United Nations.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, stated that there are no current plans to modify the existing policy.
Five senior Western diplomats in Pakistan while talking to The Guardian termed the hefty fee imposed by Pakistan as ‘unprecedented’.
“I know it is very tough economically for Pakistan but really, to try to make money off refugees is unattractive,” said one diplomat.
He continued by adding, “The issue has also been raised by the two UN agencies in the lead on this mess, the [UN refugee agency] UNHCR and [International Organization of Migration] IOM,” the diplomat added. “It has also been raised in capitals and headquarters. I suspect everyone has also passed the message to their [Pakistani contacts].”
Another diplomat said that when concerns were raised regarding the imposed fee, the Pakistani officials explained that the initial proposal was to charge $10,000 per person, but it had been subsequently reduced to $830.
A different diplomat noted that the exit permit must be paid through a credit card, which poses an added difficulty for many Afghan refugees who lack access to such payment methods. This complicates the situation further, as the fee is mandated for payment by the refugees, a considerable portion of whom do not possess credit cards.
“I think we need a cooperative approach of working together to help the refugees and we expect Pakistan would help,” he added.
The United States government intends to relocate nearly 25,000 Afghans within the country, while the United Kingdom has announced plans to resettle 20,000 individuals.
Separately, the United Nations Refugee Agency has expressed apprehension regarding Pakistan’s directive for undocumented foreigners to leave, citing its adverse impact on Afghan nationals. This includes registered refugees and individuals possessing valid documents, raising concerns about the potential humanitarian consequences of the orders.
A recent inquiry into Britain’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that Rishi Sunak believed that the government should “just let people die” rather than impose a second national lockdown.
The concerning statement by Rishi Sunak was quoted in a hearing on Monday about UK’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that shut down large sections of the economy and killed more than 220,000. The explosive claim was made by Patrick Vallance, the former chief scientific adviser to the government. He claimed that the then-finance minister Sunak said during a meeting with then-prime minister Boris Johnson, that the government should “just let people die” rather than impose a second national lockdown.
Vallance noted this down in a meeting in his diary on October 25, 2020, which was presented to the inquiry on Monday. The incident was relayed to him by Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s most senior adviser during the pandemic, relayed to Vallance what he had heard at the meeting. Vallance quoted Cummings in his diary as saying: “Rishi thinks just let people die and that’s okay. This all feels like a complete lack of leadership.” According to a spokesperson for Sunak, the prime minister would set out his position when he gives evidence to the inquiry “rather than respond to each one in piecemeal”
London (AFP) – McDonald’s boss in Britain said Tuesday the US fast-food giant faces “one to two” sexual harassment allegations from workers every week, as he vowed to tackle the issue recently exposed by the BBC.
Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, told a watchdog parliamentary committee that the chain’s management also receives around five reports a week of bullying.
He said that his employees’ accounts of alleged harassment and racism were “truly horrific and hard to listen to”.
It follows the BBC reporting in July numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, racism and bullying by staff at McDonald’s outlets in Britain.
The company says it has dismissed 18 employees and taken 75 disciplinary measures, after examining 157 reported cases, since the scandal emerged.
Some 249 cases remain to be investigated, it has said.
Law firm Leigh Day recently launched group legal action against McDonald’s after the BBC aired the accusations, which included employees’ claims they were “groped and harassed almost routinely”.
McDonald’s UK opened a specialist unit to investigate the allegations, which stemmed from the accounts of around 100 staff, according to the British broadcaster.
Appearing before lawmakers in parliament, Macrow reiterated that he was “absolutely determined to root out any of these behaviours”.
He pledged to identify individuals who are responsible for them and “make sure they are eradicated from our business”.
But earlier in the hearing, union leaders claimed that, contrary to those assertions, the situation had not improved within McDonald’s since it launched its internal probes.
The unions also claim that the firm has a history of using out-of-court settlements in response to such allegations, including non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union alleged four years ago that more than 1,000 female employees of the fast-food giant were victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
This year’s BBC investigation revealed that many female employees under the age of 18 reported being sexually or emotionally harassed.
One ex-employee, Shelby, who was only 16 when she started working at McDonald’s, told the broadcaster that she was constantly touched in an inappropriate and unwanted ways by older male employees in the kitchen.
The fast-food chain has 177,000 employees in the UK, many of whom are young workers, including teenagers.
A woman in England went viral on social media when she was spotted at a pro-Palestine protest in London with a poster that labelled British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and now-sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman ‘coconuts.’ She was arrested by the Met Police and charged with passing ‘hateful remarks’.
Coconut, commonly used by people of Asian descent, is an insult used to describe a person of colour who may be brown on the outside, but his personal views and political alliances are always with the oppressor. It is not a racist slur.
Twitter users were outraged by the Met Police’s remarks by pointing out racism is rife within pro-Israel supporters, but pro-Palestine supporters were relentlessly targeted for their beliefs.
Not hate crime – misappropriation of ‘coconut’ by institutional racist structures like Police is intentional & solely to push an agenda of White Supremacy.
Black/Brown ppl call racial gatekeepers like Braverman & Sunak ‘coconut’ for the hate they perpetuate on their communities https://t.co/TXshV7i73y
The CEO of the Muslim dating app Muzz App, Shahzad Younas, has appealed to followers to send them the details of the arrested woman and announced that they will be paying her legal fees.
“I believe she has been arrested and charged. If anyone knows her please ask her to get in touch with me.
@muzz_app will pay her legal fees to defend her. This action by the
@metpoliceuk is outrageous. The double standards around free speech to Muslims is baffling.”
I believe she has been arrested and charged.
If anyone knows her please ask her to get in touch with me. @muzz_app will pay her legal fees to defend her.
Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti has confirmed the completion of the plan to repatriate illegal immigrants in Pakistan.
With the approaching November 1 deadline, the government is set to relocate these individuals to centers within their respective provinces.
During a press conference, Minister Bugti assured that families of illegal foreigners, including women and children, would be treated with utmost respect.
He said that “holding centres” had been formed in the provinces as well as Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan where illegal immigrants will be provided medical facilities and food.
Bugti said after November 1, arrested persons will be kept in the centers. He also announced that returnees could carry a maximum of Rs50,000 with them.
He emphasized that there would be no compromise on the issue of the return of foreigners and that those found with fake Computerized National Identity Cards (CNCs) would face consequences.
Sarfraz Bugti said illegal properties of illegal foreigners including illegal Afghan refugees, will be confiscated, and announced action will also be taken against Pakistanis who provide facilities to the illegal aliens.
He further said that the state had carried out geo-fencing to identify areas where illegal immigrants were residing. “We know where they are. They are in villages, in Pakistan’s metropolitan cities, in different small cities. The government has complete know-how about where they are.”
“We are encouraging voluntary return so that they can be saved from being manhandled and arrested,” Bugti said. “I assure you that once our investigation is complete, anybody involved in this illegal work will be punished.”
The first flight of illegal Afghan refugees to Britain for resettlement will begin today (Thursday).
The first chartered flight carrying 230 Afghan refugees will depart from Islamabad to the UK.
In this regard, arrangements have been completed at Islamabad International Airport.
The first flight carrying asylum-seeking Afghans will depart from Islamabad International Airport for the United Kingdom on Thursday.
200 Afghan refugees are reportedly going to fly out today.
The Independent has reported that around 3,000 Afghans, many of whom worked for the British army, are to be given UK residency after the Afghan Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021.
For the time being, the UK has accommodated them in Pakistan since 2022, whereas hundreds have been stuck and await their turn to get relocated.
The Independent wrote that in “A U-turn of government policy, ministers have pledged that all Afghans eligible for the UK’s resettlement schemes will no longer have to wait for accommodation to be confirmed before coming to Britain”.
This u-turn was taken after Pakistan gave an ultimatum to all undocumented foreign nationals to leave by November 1 after which they will be deported.
A British High Commission delegation met senior officials from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on Tuesday.
According to the senior CAA official, around 2,000 Afghan refugees will be repatriated by mid-December through one or two weekly chartered flights from Islamabad to the UK.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf posted a video message on X (formerly Twitter), saying that the U.K. is willing to take Gaza refugees in, following Israel’s bombardment of Palestine.
“So, many of them don’t want to leave and neither they should have to leave but for the million that have been displaced just in this current conflict, for those that want to leave, there should be a worldwide refugee scheme,
“Because of the numbers, the world should be involved.”
Yousaf also urged other countries to open their borders to refugees from Gaza.
The people of Gaza are a proud people.
Many don’t want to leave, and shouldn’t have to.
But for those displaced, who want to leave, there should be a worldwide refugee scheme.
Scotland is willing to be a place of sanctuary and be the first country to take those refugees. pic.twitter.com/5RbZpJsGHX
“Let’s say that Scotland will be a place of sanctuary for them as we have shown that kindness and compassion for others. Let us show it once again and this time for the people of Gaza,” Yousaf said, adding that Scotland is willing to lead the way for the rest of the U.K.
“And Scotland is willing to be the first country in the U.K. to take those refugees,” he said.
In another video, the First Minister stated that Scotland’s hospitals will care for the Gazans injured in the escalation and requested the U.K. government to “begin work on the creation of a refugee resettlement scheme for those in Gaza who want to, and of course are able to, leave.”
In the past, people in Scotland and across the UK have opened our hearts and our homes.
Scotland is ready to play her part.
To be the first country in the UK to offer safety and sanctuary to the people of Gaza.
Several members of the Labour Party have resigned since the Israel bombing of escalation on October 7.
The Labour Party is currently in the opposition in the UK whose leader, Keir Starmer, recently stated that Israel has the “right” to cut power and water supplies to Gaza. Similar comments were issued by prominent members including shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry and shadow defence minister John Healey.
This was followed by a resignation from Oxford City councillor Shaista Aziz. As a former international aid worker, she has worked in the occupied West Bank, Israel, and refugee camps in Gaza.
13.10.23
Statement of resignation from the Labour Party from Cllr Shaista Aziz, Cllr Amar Latif, Oxford City Council.
We stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and Palestine and call for and end to violence and the humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/2L7a5ovDIJ
Middle East Eye spoke to her and she said, “The Labour Party leader’s stance on not being able to condemn collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza was the final red line for me,”.
In an interview, Strarmer was asked about the seige, blockade, and the killing by Israel to which he replied that while all action must be taken within the international law, “I don’t want to step away from the core principles that Israel has the right to defend herself.”
Among other Labour councillors who have resigned are Amar Latif, Mairéad Healy and Jessie Hoskin.
“As a working GP, I am deeply distressed by the loss of all innocent lives in both Palestine and Israel. However, it cannot be right that there is collective punishment in direct contravention of international law, and it is incumbent on all leaders at a local, national and international level to speak out against this,” said Latif.
Similarly, Hopkins stated, “I was elected because I believe in human dignity for everyone without exception. The Labour Party no longert reflects those views,”
While Healy said the Labour leadership was “encouraging collective punishment towards the Palestinian people by condoning the indiscriminate withholding of water and energy supplies in Gaza,” which she believes is illegal under international law.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak landed in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday morning to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu and President Herzog.
During his meeting with Herzog, he said that it is vital to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, stating, “Palestinians are victims of what Hamas has done. It’s important that we continue to provide humanitarian access,”
He, nonetheless, stressed on his full support to Israel to “defend” itself, “to bring security back” in the country to its people, and “to ensure the safe return of the hostages that have been taken”.
The United Nations has reported that one million people have fled their homes in Gaza, including about 352,000 people who are currently residing in UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The conditions of these shelters are described as “increasingly dire“.
121 people killed since yesterday
Al Jazeera spoke to a medical source who reported that 121 had been killed and 540 injured in the Gaza Strip since last night.
Additionally, WAFA has reported that a Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli forces while a child was killed in a refugee camp — both in the occupied West Bank .
The child was reportedly 14-year-old Ahmed Munis Sadouq who was shot in the head.
Others have been injured.
Gaza’s only cancer hospital closed
Al Jazeera reports that Dr Sukeyk, the director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, has issued an alert that the fuel required to keep essential services running is extremely low and so are the medicines needed during chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients.
There are reportedly more than 9,000 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip with no other hospital to go to.
Doctors using vinegar to treat wound infections
Surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta says he has resorted to using “vinegar from the corner shop to treat pseudomonas bacterial wound infections.”
“It’s come to that,” he said on X.
Vinegar from the corner shop to treat pseuodomonas bacterial wound infections. Its come to that. pic.twitter.com/mEE4haHMyj
The Israeli army has claimed to have targeted and destroyed hundreds of Hamas’s points in Gaza including anti-tank missile launch sites, tunnel shafts intelligence positions, and more.
They have reportedly also killed the fighters involved in October 7 attacks.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, confirmed the killings of three of its fighters on Wednesday.
US vetoes UNSC resolution calling for humanitarian halt
US President Biden has announced a pact with Egypt’s el-Sisi which will allow 20 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
Earlier, on Wednesday, US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that, while condemning Hamas’s attack on Israel, called for a pause in the Israel-Palestine escalation and allow aid into Gaza.
The US was the only opponent in the resolution amongst the 12 members who voted in favour whereas Russia and the UK abstained.
US reasoning was that the Brazil-drafted text did not assert enough on Israel’s right to self-defence.
Israel police boss threatens to send anti-war protesters to Gaza
While people across the globe protest against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, some Israelis too, have taken to streets of Haifa to hold pro-Palestine demonstration.
Israel’s police chief responded by saying that there will be “zero tolerance” for pro-Palestinian protests in Israel and threatened the protesters with sending them to Gaza.
Six people have been reportedly arrested
“Whoever wants to become an Israeli citizen, welcome,” Shabtai said. “Anyone who wants to identify with Gaza is welcome. I will put him on the buses heading there now.”
— NEW: Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai banned pro-Gaza demonstrations: “Whoever wants to be a citizen of Israel, is welcome. Anyone who wants to identify with Gaza, we will put him on the buses heading there now.”
A left-wing Israeli parliament member, Ofer Cassif has been suspended for 45 daya by the ethics panel of the Israeli parliament whose statements were deemed as anti-Israel.
In an interview, he compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza to the Nazis’ ‘Final Solution’ against Jews in Europe.
Referring to the Hamas attack he claimed that “Israel wanted this violence”.
Cassif called the suspension “another nail in the coffin of freedom of political expression”.
1> החלטת ועדת האתיקה היא עוד מסמר בארון הקבורה של חופש הביטוי הפוליטי.
בכל אחד מראיונותיי הדגשתי את הגינוי המלא וסלידתי העמוקה ממעשי הטבח הנפשעים של חמאס. אמירותי הפוליטיות נגד הכיבוש והמלחמה אינן אמירות נגד ישראל, שכן שלום וצדק משרתות גם אותה ואת תושביה. pic.twitter.com/ilsKBSbwG3
