{"id":11099,"date":"2023-10-05T14:06:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T14:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/nothing-out-there-for-us-afghan-refugees-begin-exodus-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-10-05T14:06:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T14:06:07","slug":"nothing-out-there-for-us-afghan-refugees-begin-exodus-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/nothing-out-there-for-us-afghan-refugees-begin-exodus-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nothing out there for us\u2019: Afghan refugees begin exodus | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nKARACHI:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saeedullah waved goodbye to his friends as he boarded a bus taking over 150 Afghan refugees to Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

He is one of the thousands of Afghan refugees who have either started or are planning to return to their homeland following Islamabad\u2019s decision to evict what it says are over 1 million \u201cillegal immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islamabad has set Nov.1 as the deadline for all undocumented migrants, mainly Afghans, to voluntarily leave the country, warning of arrests and deportations after that date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not leaving by choice but I have no other option. I don\u2019t want to be arrested or face any humiliation,\u201d Saeedullah, a father of five, told Anadolu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hailing from Afghanistan\u2019s northeastern Takhar province, Saeedullah came to Pakistan days before the US invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.<\/p>\n

In Karachi, a crowded refugee camp became his new home.<\/p>\n

Saeedullah was teaching at a local madrasa, or religious seminary, until last week.<\/p>\n

He lost his status as a legal immigrant in 2012 as Pakistani authorities refused to renew his Afghan refugee card.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Pakistan to evict 1.1m illegal Afghan refugees<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll do back in Afghanistan. There is nothing out there for us. But at least there\u2019s no fear of arrests or deportation back there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s no longer the threat of violence,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Since the Taliban returned to power over two years ago, Afghanistan has been facing grave economic challenges.<\/p>\n

Currently, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a record 28.3 million people depend on humanitarian and protection assistance in the country, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021.<\/p>\n

Latest UN figures show some 1.3 million Afghans are registered refugees in Pakistan, while another 880,000 have legal status to stay in the country.<\/p>\n

According to Pakistan\u2019s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, over 1.7 million Afghan refugees are not registered with the government.<\/p>\n

Most of the Afghan refugees live in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.<\/p>\n

The Sindh also hosts some 500,000 Afghan refugees.<\/p>\n

\u2018Reign of fear\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a room at a refugee camp in Karachi, a group of Afghan nationals were discussing Islamabad\u2019s eviction plan, uncertainty visible on their faces even in the dim light.<\/p>\n

Nestled on the northern outskirts of the country\u2019s commercial hub and most populous city, this rundown locality with limited healthcare services and basic sanitation is home to nearly 250,000 Afghan refugees who were forced to flee their country due to a series of conflicts over the past four decades.<\/p>\n

Rahimullah, an elder of the Afghan refugee community, said police had \u201cunleashed an indiscriminate reign of arrests much before the government\u2019s eviction announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t been going out of the camp for over a month, not even for work,\u201d he told Anadolu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just at the local police station trying to get them to release several Afghan youths they detained yesterday. They were detained despite having all the legal documents,\u201d he said, as the others nodded along.<\/p>\n

Nearly 2,000 Afghans, including 700 in Karachi, have been arrested since early September in a crackdown on undocumented migrants, according to police figures.<\/p>\n

Rahimullah put the number at 1,300 for Karachi alone over the past one month.<\/p>\n

According to a statement from Afghanistan\u2019s department for refugee affairs, some 23,000 Afghans have been expelled by Pakistan in the past 20 days. Islamabad has not issued any figures from its side nor commented on the Afghan statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made Karachi our home 40 years ago when my father migrated from Afghanistan. I have studied here, married here, and all of my 10 children were born here. They don\u2019t know anything about Afghanistan,\u201d said Rahimullah.<\/p>\n

Read:\u00a0Crackdown rattles Afghans in Pakistan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Confirming that an exodus has already stared due to the ongoing crackdown, he said another batch of 600 refugees is set to leave for Afghanistan on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past few weeks, five to six buses packed with refugees have been leaving Pakistan every day,\u201d he said, adding that the numbers will likely increase over the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have legal status here. As long as they (authorities) allow, I will stay here. If they deport me, what choice would I have?\u201d Rahimullah, a prayer leader at a local mosque, said with a helpless smile on his bearded face.<\/p>\n

Authorities, however, deny the charges. Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer in Karachi, told Anadolu<\/em> that only undocumented migrants are being taken into custody, while those with legal documents are not being targeted.<\/p>\n

The same message was reiterated by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, with spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch stressing that the country will continue to host legal Afghan immigrants.<\/p>\n

The eviction plan is only for undocumented people and Afghan refugees with legal status do not need to worry, Baloch said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.<\/p>\n

Islamabad police also released an update on Thursday saying more than 1,100 people \u201cwere screened during operations against illegal foreign nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement said 503 people \u201chad no documents of any kind\u201d and \u201care on judicial remand and facing charges,\u201d while \u201c623 were released after presenting approved identification documents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Poor refugees paying the price\u2019 for politics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pakistan alleges that some Afghan refugees have been involved in \u201cfunding and facilitating\u201d terrorist activities in the country.<\/p>\n

Out of the 24 suicide bombings on security installations and civilian targets in Pakistan this year, 14 involved suicide bombers who were Afghan nationals, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

However, Hameed Mustafa, a young Afghan refugee, argued that \u201cpoor refugees are paying the price\u201d for deteriorating relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.<\/p>\n

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government of \u201cmentoring\u201d terrorists loyal to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group, who have claimed responsibility for several of the recent deadly attacks.<\/p>\n

Kabul, for its part, denies the charges and has reportedly launched a crackdown on the TTP in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, arresting approximately 200 terrorists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is stopping the government from going after these miscreants? We fully support any action against them,\u201d Habib told Anadolu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what have we done? We have been living here peacefully? Why are we being scapegoated?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dual threat<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UN and several global human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have opposed Pakistan\u2019s eviction plan, saying it will put a number of Afghans at risk, particularly the minority Hazara community that fled because of alleged persecution by the Taliban.<\/p>\n

According to official government estimates, over 600,000 Afghans have arrived in Pakistan seeking asylum since the Taliban returned to power.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike Pashtuns, who face only an economic threat, we have the additional risk to our lives if we go back to Afghanistan,\u201d Murtaza Kohzad, a refugee from the Shia Hazara community of the northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, told Anadolu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they sending us back to die?\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Afghanistan\u2019s Interior Ministry rejected the claims of persecution and threats to particular groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is mere propaganda from those elements who have run away from the country and now want foreign citizenship or asylum by playing this victim card,\u201d a spokesperson, who did not want to be named, said in a message to Anadolu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Afghans in shadows<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hazara or other communities living in Afghanistan have no complaints against the Taliban government, he said, arguing that elders and religious scholars of the Hazara community have excellent relations with the Taliban.<\/p>\n

An official of Pakistan\u2019s Interior Ministry also dismissed the criticism coming from the UN and rights groups.<\/p>\n

Pakistan is acting within its \u201clegal and constitutional rights to deport illegal immigrants who are posing a threat to the country\u2019s security,\u201d the official told Anadolu<\/em>, requesting anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich country on earth supports illegal immigration?\u201d he said, adding that, in his opinion, the decision has been \u201ctaken late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plan is only for illegal immigrants. Those living here with legal documents don\u2019t need to worry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n