After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, several Afghans fled to Pakistan in hope of saving their families from systemised abuse and oppression. But the things these families ran away from came back to haunt them in the refuge they took in their neighboring country. These Afghans have been facing illegal detentions and arrests. They have been living in a constant fear of getting deported to their homeland. The only identity proofs that permits them to take shelter are Proof of Registration (PoR) or Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) cards. The substantial delays in the registration process have resulted in absence of these documents. Even the refugees which entered Pakistan with regular visas are at high risk of deportation since their visas expired with no possibility of renewal.
Pakistani officials have made a statement that all the refugees from Afghanistan residing illegally are instructed to leave Pakistan by 1st November 2023. This deadline was openly condemned by UNHCR, issuing a non-return advisory which prohibits the forced return of Afghan nationals.
Coercions or deportations will be viewed as a breach of Pakistan’s duty to the UN Convention against Torture while violating the international law. It states that any kind of forcible return of a citizen to a country where they would likely face mistreatment or tyrannization is a clear defiance of your global obligations.
The crux of the story
As per the reports of UNHCR, about 4 million Afghan refugees currently reside in Pakistan. Among these, 70,000 fled from Afghanistan after the Taliban gained control over the territory. An estimated 1.7 million refugees entered Pakistan illegally to hold onto any chance of hope of saving their lives but the recent government notice of evacuation offers them with little to no legal protection or a safe haven.
The Pakistani government authorities blamed the Taliban for this act of refoulement. According to reports, Pakistani officials have constantly appealed to the Taliban to stop cross-border terrorism. This appeal was ignored by the Taliban officials in Afghanistan. The bombing at mosques in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions last month gave a stronger excuse to support their decision of deportation. These bombings happened in the places which share the border with Afghanistan and killed 60 people.
In a statement by political analyst Shahzada Zulfiqar, he said, “The main objective of this crackdown is to pressure the Afghan Taliban government to stop supporting the Pakistani Taliban”.
Despite several warnings by the UN and UNHCR, Pakistan continues to detain thousands of refugees while some reports confirm that about 2600 refugees have already been sent back to Afghanistan to face the atrocities by Taliban rule.
In an investigation by ‘The Guardian’, Muhammad Khan, a 70-year old who has lived in Pakistan since the 1980s now faces the threat of deportation. He further says, “We have our life here, how could we go back and start again in Afghanistan, where everything is uncertain?”
This mission to send back Afghan refugees is not only undertaken by the police but the government has announced rewards for those who report illegal Afghans living in their neighborhood.
“We stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine and call for an immediate cease- fire and lifting of the blockade in Gaza”. This statement by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar lost all its meaning because where is this so-called solidarity now?
Explanation by Pakistani officials
Pakistan’s explanations for their actions are nothing if not baseless. This was proved by the country’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti when he openly stated that this policy was not targeting a particular group but people from all nationalities come under its radar. But the interesting fact which must be highlighted is that the highest number of migrants in the country are Afghans occupying about 48.78% of the entire refugee population in the country.
He also added that the time limit for voluntary departure from the country is the last week of October or else they would be at the risk of mass deportation. His ministers have even come up with the plan for confiscating all their assets. He further ensures that the migrants who entered Pakistan legally, which comes up to around 2.4 million Afghans, have no need to worry.
This information was proven false by a Karachi-based young human rights lawyer Moniza Kakar. She mentioned that from 1400 Afghan refugees put in the detention centers, she met around 400 people who claimed that they had valid government ID cards (PoR and ACC) but were confiscated by police authorities.
Pakistani media’s defense
Most of the Pakistani media outlets stood in support, constantly coming up with theories justifying this horrific exploitation. An independent Islamabad-based journalist-turned-analyst, Zahid Hussain blamed Afghans for their own deportation by stressing their involvement in latest acts of terrorism on Pakistani soil.
Another journalist, Kamran Yousaf urged “the international community to stay in touch with Afghanistan, to continue the humanitarian assistance so that people do not leave their country”.
A pakistan newspaper, Express Tribune blamed the Soviet Union and the US for breaking up Afghanistan in the 1980s. It adds that this is someone else’s problem which has been put on the shoulders of Pakistan.
Now, here are some headlines from western media:
● “We’re so fearful’: Pakistan rounds up Afghan refugees for deportation”-The Guardian
● “Pakistan announces big crackdown on migrants in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans”- AP News
● “US Advocates for Afghan Refugees Amid Pakistan’s Threatened Expulsion”-VOA
● “Pakistan abruptly turns against Afghan Refugees”- Washington Post
Whereas these are some of the newspaper headlines of Pakistani media:
● “Pakistan to evict 1.1m illegal Afghan refugees”-The Express Tribune
● “Pakistan to send back all illegal Afghan refugees”- Samaa TV
It seems like they couldn’t seem to stress enough on the word illegal despite reports from activists like moniza. They will blame the cold war, lack of humanitarian aid, and terrorism to hide the conditions of Afghan refugees.
A repeat telecast from 2016
An act of 2023 gives a feeling of deja vu because the same thing happened in 2016 when Pakistani authorities forced thousands of Afghan refugees who were legally registered out of their nation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) narrated the saddening abuse by police officials, including confiscation of identity proofs and ruthless beatings.
Despite knowing the environment for women in Afghanistan, an environment where they don’t have basic access to healthcare, education, or even freedom of movement, Pakistan is hell bent on sending women seeking asylum to save their dignity. This is the time where it can work with the UNHCR to resume the legal process of registration which would put an end to police abuses.
A cry for help!
It is rightly said that turning your face the other way isn’t the solution to a problem. In this time of humanitarian crisis, rather than helping the refugees safeguard their fundamental rights it is using every coercive measure to seek its national interest. Even the condition of refugees currently residing in Pakistan is getting worse day by day. A report by the National Library of Medicine states that the chances of death for these Afghans are 25 times more every year from undernourishment and poverty than those from violence.
Then why not create a place they can call home because right now these refugees are battling between two countries and their right to choose the less worse is being taken away from them, their dignity is being taken away from them, their home was taken away from them!