Taliban Appoints New Head of Mission for Afghan Embassy in UAE

Oct 27, 2023, 09:17 GMT+1

The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Badruddin Haqqani has arrived in Abu Dhabi as "the new head of the Afghan Embassy in the United Arab Emirates".

On Thursday, the ministry added that Haqqani was officially introduced to the embassy employees.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban stated that this group considers the acceptance of Badruddin Haqqani at the Afghan embassy in the United Arab Emirates as an "important development in the relations between the two countries".

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Pakistan To Establish Deportation Centres For Illegal Immigrants

Oct 26, 2023, 15:30 GMT+1

Pakistan is creating special deportation centres to deport immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans who reside illegally in the country.

Pakistani officials said that if the illegal immigrants do not leave the country by the deadline, they will be sent to deportation centres.

Jan Achakzai, a spokesperson of Balochistan province, told the Associated Press on Thursday that three deportation centres have been established in the city.

Azam Khan, the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that three deportation centres will be established in this state as well. He said that immigrants living in the country illegally must leave Pakistan before next Wednesday's deadline in order to avoid being arrested.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said that the one-month deadline for deporting migrants will not be extended. He explained that immigrants have the right to take only $180 out of the country.

He warned Pakistani citizens that there would be consequences if they were discovered sheltering migrants who are in the country illegally after November 1.

Pakistan hosts millions of Afghans, and since the announcement of the deportation of migrants, this country has deported about 60,000 Afghans and returned them to Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials said the 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees would not be deported.

Following the decision to speed up the process of deporting Afghan immigrants from Pakistan, human rights defenders and the United Nations asked Pakistan to reconsider this decision.

Criticising Pakistan's decision, the United Nations said that this crackdown could lead to human rights violations, including the separation of families.

Afghan Girls’ Education Activist Released From Taliban Detention

Oct 26, 2023, 14:12 GMT+1

Matiullah Wesa, an Afghan activist for girls' education, was released from Taliban custody after 215 days, on Thursday.

In an interview with Afghanistan International, Attaullah Wesa, the brother of Matiullah Wesa, confirmed the news of the release of the activist.

On March 23, the Taliban intelligence arrested Wesa, the head of the Pen Path Organisation in Kabul. Wesa was arrested by the Taliban after traveling to Europe and meeting European officials.

After widespread international reactions, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson at the time claimed that Wesa was engaged in activism without informing the Taliban regime. Mujahid claimed that Wesa secretly and openly communicated with foreigners and received orders from them for his activities.

Mutiullah Wesa and Attaullah Wesa, two brothers from Kandahar, have been working for the opening of girls' schools in southern Afghanistan for more than ten years. After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, and the closure of girls' schools throughout Afghanistan, Wesa expanded his activities and tried to open girls' schools all over the country.

After the Taliban banned girls' education, he supported the campaign for girls to return to school.

The detention of Wesa provoked widespread international reactions and a large number of human rights defenders and international officials demanded his release.

Iran’s Interior Minister Sets Ban On Foreign Nationals’ Residency In Some Areas of Iran

Oct 26, 2023, 12:45 GMT+1

Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, announced that foreign nationals should not live around certain locations in the country.

Vahidi said that the security of these places must be ensured and the evacuation of foreign nationals from around places such as the shrine of Shah Cheragh in Shiraz is being implemented.

Iran's Interior Minister told the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), "According to the plan for the organising of foreigners, the security of some places should be ensured and foreigners should not be residing in those places."

The Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic did not name the foreigners, but it seems that he pointed to the Afghan immigrants in Iran. Recently, the Islamic Republic has planned to deport Afghan and other illegal immigrants from the country.

The decision to evacuate Afghans from around the Shah Cheragh Shrine was made after the second terrorist attack at this place in recent months.

Behrang Ghorbani, the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs of Fars Governorate, said earlier that following the terrorist attack at the Shah Cheragh shrine, the owners of residential houses and the surrounding areas were told that they are not allowed to rent out their places to foreign nationals.

Earlier, the General Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrant Affairs of Fars Governorate had announced that foreign citizens living in Shiraz Municipality and around the Shah Cheragh shrine have up to 14 days to evacuate their homes.

Following terror attacks on the Shah Cheragh shrine, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence had announced that the perpetrators of the two attacks were foreigners.

According to the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least five million Afghan immigrants live in Iran.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly announced that people without valid residency documents should be deported. In the past months, tens of thousands of Afghan immigrants have been deported from Iran and handed over to the Taliban.

No Deadline Extension for Deportation of Illegal Immigrants, Says Pakistani Minister

Oct 26, 2023, 10:35 GMT+1

Sarfaraz Bugti, the Interior Minister of Pakistan, said that his country currently has no plans to extend the deadline for the deportation of illegal immigrants.

Bugti also said that the decision to deport illegal immigrants after November 1 was "misinterpreted" and Pakistan's target was not to only deport Afghan illegal immigrants.

The government of Pakistan recently announced that all illegal immigrants living in the country have until November 1 to leave Pakistan.

This decision faced a lot of criticism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several human rights organisations also expressed concern about the Pakistani government’s decision.

Addressing the Pakistani Senate on Wednesday, Bugti said that Pakistan's announcement about the deportation of illegal foreign immigrants has been "misunderstood”.

Bugti clarified, "We talked about deporting illegal residents, but this message was spread in such a way that we are deporting only Afghans. The government's message was not only for Afghans; it was for all illegal immigrants."

He said that the Pakistani government will also deport illegal Iranian immigrants who belong to the Baloch ethnic group.

Pakistan's interior minister added that anyone with a refugee card or visa is "our guest".

Most Foreign Aid Spent On Unnecessary Projects, Says Taliban Minister

Oct 26, 2023, 09:20 GMT+1

Khalil Ur Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban's Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, said that most of the aid provided by relief organisations "is spent on administrative issues and projects that are not necessary”.

Haqqani made these statements during a meeting with the head of the European Union (EU) development aid in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s Minister of Refugees added that the aid from foreign organisations should be used to provide shelters to returnees, build clinics, and schools, and for other important projects.

In a statement, the Ministry of Refugees of the Taliban quoted the EU official as saying that the European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding for 15 million euros in aid for Afghan returnees.

So far, the official sources of the European Union have not announced any aid for the Afghan returnees. The Taliban has not provided more details regarding this matter.

The European Union official and the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees also discussed the Herat earthquake victims and how to provide humanitarian support to them.

Earlier, the European Union donated 3.5 million euros to the Herat earthquake victims.