Taliban terms Pakistan's treatment of Afghan refugees as "cruel"
He said the decision to expel Afghans was taken unilaterally and Pakistan should consider the consequences of such actions, TOLO News reported.
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KABUL: Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed acting Defense Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid has criticized the Pakistan caretaker government's treatment of Afghan refugees.
He said the decision to expel Afghans was taken unilaterally and Pakistan should consider the consequences of such actions, TOLO News reported.
TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul. Mujahid in an audio clip, called on the Pakistan government to not "be cruel to the Afghans, not seize their personal property and assets."
"They cannot do it by any law or rule. Such actions will be questioned," he said, adding, "We will attempt with all our capacity to prevent it and will not allow anyone to seize and steal the personal property of our Afghan brothers."
He also urged the international community, UN and other organizations to press Pakistan to end "the current situation towards refugees." "Even though it sends the refugees to their country, they [refugees] should be sent to the country with dignity and return to their homeland," he said, as per TOLO News.
The Taliban-appointed Acting Defense Minister said the ongoing situation is severely damaging the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "So, the Pakistani regime should think of the consequences of whatever it is doing. It should plant as much as it will be able to reap," he added, according to Tolo News.
He also called the decision by Pakistan's caretaker government to deport Afghan refugees unilateral, saying that "we do not accept at all." Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid recently called on countries hosting Afghan refugees to not forcefully deport them as migrants, as they were not prepared to take them back. Mujahid also called for tolerance based on Islamic and neighbourly manners, TOLO News reported.
The Taliban spokesperson said Afghans have been forced to migrate to various countries due to the wars over the past 45 years in Afghanistan. Mujahid, in his statement, said Afghans have not created problems or destabilisation in host countries.
He urged neighbouring countries to treat them properly, TOLO News reported. Pakistan's caretaker government, earlier, announced October 31 as the deadline for Afghan refugees to leave the country. The government called on nearly 2 million Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan by the deadline day, failing which they would face forced deportation.