{"id":10633,"date":"2023-10-04T05:39:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T05:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/concern-over-move-to-expel-illegal-afghans\/"},"modified":"2023-10-04T05:39:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T05:39:34","slug":"concern-over-move-to-expel-illegal-afghans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/concern-over-move-to-expel-illegal-afghans\/","title":{"rendered":"Concern over move to expel \u2018illegal\u2019 Afghans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>KARACHI: The government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1778946\/govt-decides-to-evict-over-1m-foreigners-illegally-residing-in-pakistan-state-media\">announcement<\/a> of a short voluntary departure deadline for \u2018illegal\u2019 immigrants, most of whom are believed to be Afghans, has drawn criticism from several quarters.<\/p>\n<p>Around 1.3 million Afghans are registered refugees in Pakistan and 880,000 more have legal status to remain, according to the latest United Nations figures.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1778433\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>But caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1779106\/govt-sets-deadline-of-nov-1-for-illegal-immigrants-to-leave-pakistan\">said<\/a> a further 1.7 million Afghans were in Pakistan illegally.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement prompted a robust response from the Afgha\u00adnistan Embassy in Islamabad, which accused Punjab and Sindh police of conducting a \u2018ruthless\u2019 operation against Afghan refugees, without distinguishing between genders and even arresting women and children.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote-level-1\">\n<p>Embassy decries \u2018harassment\u2019 of its nationals; UN official says refugees\u2019 return must be \u2018voluntary\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AfghanembassyI1\/status\/1709169610103370089\">statement<\/a> posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Afghanistan\u2019s embassy said more than 1,000 Afghans have been detained in the past two weeks \u2014 half of them despite having a legal right to be in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Amnesty Interna\u00adt\u00adional has also called out the Pakistani government for creating a space of \u2018fear\u2019 for refugees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the repeated promises of the Pakistan authorities, the arrest and harassment of Afghan refugees by the police in Pakistan continues,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>Former senator Afrasiab Khattak urged the caretaker government to handle Afghan refugees as if they were \u201cvanquished people\u201d, cautioning that the animosity being sown today will be harvested by future generations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe intense hatred being sown today will breed animosity which will be reaped by many generations. The darkest chapter of Pak-Afghan policy,\u201d he wrote on his X account.<\/p>\n<p>Social worker and activist Meena Gabeena highlighted how this policy directly impacts the Hazara community, especially children and women, who have a historical record of enduring various forms of violence from the Taliban simply because they possess a \u201cHazara face\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese stories are real. If you try hearing the \u2018illegal immigrants\u2019 also known as innocent people, you\u2019ll know!\u201d, she wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>Activist Usama Khilji said it is \u2018illegal\u2019 to \u2018expel asylum seekers\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPakistan government should make exception for the precarious situation Afghans find themselves in Afghanistan under the Taliban government without access to education for girls &amp; no rights for women,\u201d he said in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p>Asfandyar Khan, an officebearer of Mohsin Dawar\u2019s National Democratic Movement (NDM), also condemned the \u2018inhumane treatment\u2019 of Afghan refugees. \u201cThey [Pakistani government] cannot build peace by bringing them, training them, and then neglecting their rights. They must uphold international laws and human dignity,\u201d he <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/asfand_ndm\/status\/1709201510536749185\">wrote<\/a> on his X account.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany Afghans living in fear of persecution by the Taliban had fled to Pakistan, where they have been subjected to waves of arbitrary detentions, arrests, and the threat of deportation,\u201d the organisation emphasised.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the new policy, a US State Department spokesperson simply said that Pakistan had been an important partner in the resettlement of Afghans looking to flee or resettle abroad.<\/p>\n<p>But a United Nations official also opposed the deadline. \u201cAny refugee return must be voluntary and without any pressure to ensure protection for those seeking safe\u00ad\u00adty,\u201d Qaisar Khan Afridi, an official of the UN High Commis\u00adsioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told <em>Anadolu Agency<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>He said that the UNHCR was prepared to assist Pakistan in establishing a system for overseeing and recording individuals seeking international protection within its borders and addressing \u2018specific vulnerabilities.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KARACHI: The government\u2019s announcement of a short voluntary departure deadline for \u2018illegal\u2019 immigrants, most of whom are believed to be Afghans, has drawn criticism from several quarters. Around 1.3 million Afghans are registered refugees in Pakistan and 880,000 more have legal status to remain, according to the latest United Nations figures. But caretaker Interior Minister [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/04094249a093ef2.jpg?r=094420","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}