UNHCR calls on Pakistan to halt deportation of Afghan refugees

KABUL: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called on Pakistan to halt the deportation of Afghan refugees during winter amid concerns for their safety, Khaama Press reported. The Khaama Press News Agency is an online news service for Afghanistan.

The country's decision to expel over a million undocumented refugees, primarily Afghans, has caused tension with Kabul. The UN refugee agency emphasized the need for Pakistan to identify vulnerable individuals requiring international protection and for returns to be voluntary.

Pakistan is home to around 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, with approximately 1.7 million lacking documentation. The Pakistani police are conducting door-to-door searches for refugees who haven't left voluntarily, starting in Karachi.

This comes as many Afghans have gone into hiding in Pakistan to avoid deportation, fearing the situation in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal. Pakistan's Supreme Court has received a petition from rights activists seeking to halt deportations, but it has not been scheduled for a hearing yet.

Meanwhile, civil society activists in Pakistan have demanded to halt the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from the country, as many of them continue to face harsh circumstances amid the ongoing situation, TOLO News reported.

A demonstration was organised by a few Pakistani lawyers, political activists, and members of civil society who wanted an end to the arrests and forceful removal of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

One of the protest organisers, the Joint Action Committee for Refugees, stated in a newsletter that Afghan refugees were subjected to harassment by the police and other law enforcement authorities following Pakistan's decision to deport illegal immigrants, according to TOLO News report.

These demonstrators claimed that Afghan refugees are being persecuted by Pakistani law forces. "They have asked Pakistan to stop the process of refugees being forcibly deported from here and to allow them to stay legally," TOLOnews quoted Sediq Kakar, an advocate in Pakistan, as saying. In response to Pakistan's decision to deport Afghan migrants from the country by November, the Taliban has said that Islamabad's decision is cruel but the necessary preparations to deal with the refugees have been made in the country.

A senior Taliban official, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said that more than 400,000 individuals have returned to the nation thus far. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers it its duty to resettle the refugees who return to their homeland and cooperate if we have the facilities and we are sure that the returnee refugees are more than 400,000," said Zabihullah Mujahid, according to TOLO News.

Meanwhile, a few refugees who returned from Pakistan also discussed their plight and described the despicable actions of the country's military. "They destroyed our house; we had our own house. The Pakistani police forcibly dragged us and said that we will deport you and you have no right to stay in our country," a returnee, Mazuddin, stated.

According to human rights organisations in Afghanistan, half of the people expelled from Pakistan are women and addressing their needs is becoming increasingly challenging as winter approaches, as per the news report.