Afghan migrants open up about hardships and mistreatment by Pakistan officials

Islamabad [Pakistan]: Afghan refugees who were evacuated from Pakistan through the Chaman border have described the hardships they faced, including being locked up and forced to pay money for leaving by Pakistani officials, Pakistan vernacular media Jang reported.

One of the refugees who was evacuated from Pakistan said, “The family has moved ahead, they are not leaving our car. Policemen in Karachi catch us and lock us in the police station. They take 10,000-15,000 rupees to leave. I was born in Karachi and worked in a bakery. I have a registered card in Lyari. The Police picked me up four to five times and left after taking five to ten thousand rupees (PKR) each time.”

Jang further cited an analysis by Salim Safi, a Geo TV journalist, who said that the Afghan refugees who came to Pakistan after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to Khaliq Atifi, an Afghan refugee in Islamabad, even Afghans registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are not immune to detention or deportation.
The report further stated that among those refugees, many influential Afghan commanders were billionaires with properties in Pakistan.

The most luxurious house in Islamabad after Imran Khan belongs to an Afghan commander, Jang reported.

The Afghans who came to Pakistan under the current Taliban regime do not have computerised refugee cards. They were given short-term visas to come to Pakistan, which have expired.

However, the citizens of Peshawar believe that the policy of sending back the illegally residing people is good for Pakistan, Jang reported.

“The decision to return the Afghans residing illegally in Pakistan is not cruel; settling is not allowed in any country without proper documents,” the Pakistani citizen said.

The Pakistani citizens at the Chaman border said that the decision to evacuate the Afghan refugees was correct, but it was “not the right time.”

The policy of sending back illegally residing Afghans is considered good for Pakistan, but the decision to evacuate them was not the right time due to the cold conditions in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“It is cold in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and the conditions there are not so favourable. The evacuation of Afghan migrants has hit our economy hard,” the vernacular media quoted a Pakistani citizen as saying.

As many as 4,35,152 Afghan migrants have been deported from Pakistan since November 1, and the National Action Plan’s apex committee has set a deadline for all foreign nationals residing illegally in the country to leave voluntarily by October 31 or face deportation.

Meanwhile, the International Rescue Committee, Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council, Islamic Relief Worldwide, CARE, Intersos, and several other organisations have raised concerns over the deportation of Afghan migrants.

They have highlighted the urgent situation of 5,00,000 individuals who have returned to Afghanistan and are facing critical needs for food, shelter, and employment during the winter, TOLO News reported.
Earlier, the United Nations had also called on Pakistan to halt the deportation exercise.

Meanwhile, human rights activists and journalists have reported that the mistreatment is part of a campaign to compel Afghans to leave the country. This includes night raids during which police have beaten, threatened, and detained Afghans.