Over 7,000 Afghan Migrants Voluntarily & Forcibly Returned to Afghanistan

Pakistan's interior minister has also warned that action will be taken against those who shelter illegal immigrants, including Afghan nationals.

According to the video clips obtained by Afghanistan International, using the mosques, the Pakistani police have urged the country’s citizens to cooperate in identifying illegal immigrants.

In one of these video clips, it has been seen that the police are destroying a migrant camp in an area of the country’s capital city, Islamabad. It is said that immigrants who do not have a residence permit live in this camp.

Recently, the interim government of Pakistan gave a one-month to the immigrants who do not have legal residency documents to leave the country. Pakistani officials have said that there are about 1.7 million undocumented migrants who must leave the country. The Pakistani government’s deadline ends on Wednesday and most of these illegal migrants are citizens of Afghanistan.

Despite human rights organisations calling on the Pakistan government to reverse the decision to deport Afghan refugees, the country's authorities have not changed the decision to deport them.

Raffaella Iodice, the Head of the EU Delegation in Afghanistan, emphasised the economic importance of empowering Afghan women. In a recent post on the social media platform X, she announced that the European Union will provide £15 million to the UNDP in Afghanistan to bolster Afghan businesses led by women and young entrepreneurs in six provinces.

This humanitarian aid aims to sustain job opportunities for women in Afghanistan, given the extensive restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women's rights to work and education. Since taking control in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has enforced stringent limitations on Afghan women and girls.

Over two years later, the Taliban's policies concerning women's employment in governmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as various other professions, remain unaltered.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan announced that the deportation of illegal migrants is in accordance with international laws.

The ministry has asked the countries of the world to deal with the issue of immigrants and cooperate with Pakistan.

Earlier, the government of Pakistan announced that 1.7 million migrants "without residence documents" have until November 1 to leave the country. Pakistan has warned that these migrants will face detention and deportation if they don’t leave by the November deadline.

The deportation decision of the government of Pakistan has faced international reactions. Earlier, in an open letter to the interim prime minister of Pakistan, Amnesty International urged him to reverse the decision to forcibly deport migrants, especially Afghans without documents.

In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently called on Pakistan to stop the "massive deportation of Afghan refugees”.

The UN agency said that Pakistan's decision will affect hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan immigrants living in Pakistan.

UNHCR also stressed that if Afghan migrants are deported, they will be at serious risk of human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, torture, and cruel treatment under the Taliban government.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan said in a statement on Monday that the decision to deport migrants is in accordance with Pakistan's internal laws and international principles.

The ministry said that all foreign nationals who are legally living in Pakistan will not be deported.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior of Pakistan said that in the first stage, immigrants without valid legal documents will be deported, and in the next stages, refugees registered in the United Nations and people with Pakistan Government Registration Certificate (POR) cards will also be deported.

Earlier, the Pakistani government had assured that it would not deport the migrants registered with the United Nations.

Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, "Pakistan’s announced deadline for Afghans to return has led to detentions, beatings, and extortion, leaving thousands of Afghans in fear of their future."

She warned that the situation in Afghanistan remains dangerous for many of those who fled from the country, and their deportation exposes them to significant security risks.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior warned Afghans without legal documentation to leave the country voluntarily before November 1.

The government of Pakistan has announced that it is sticking to its plan and from Wednesday, November 1, it will take measures against people who are staying illegally in the country, including the confiscation of all movable and immovable assets.

An Afghan refugee in Islamabad who worked as a sports journalist in Kabul told Human Rights Watch that since Pakistan's warning, even Afghans registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are not immune to detention or deportation.

"There are police checkpoints everywhere," he said. "Even if you have a valid visa, you will still be transferred to the police station, and in most cases, you need to pay a bribe to get released."

According to him, in most cases, Afghan refugees must pay a bribe between USD 36 to USD 144 to the Pakistani police.

Human Rights Watch stressed that the government of Pakistan should end the police abuse of Afghan refugees and stop forced deportations.

This organisation asked Pakistan to cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resume the registration of Afghan refugees.

Human Rights Watch also asked the United States, UK, Germany, and Canada to speed up the resettlement of Afghans at risk, including human rights activists, journalists, the LGBTQ community, women, and girls.

A reliable source told Afghanistan International that on Monday, the Taliban court sentenced Parsi to four months in prison on the charge of blasphemy and 12 months in prison on the charge of propagandising against the regime.

Parsi was a university professor and expert on religious affairs and was arrested by the Taliban in March 2023.

He openly criticised extremism and violence on social media in Afghanistan.