Afghanistan: Taliban calls on nations to not use Afghan refugees as ‘political tool’

Kabul [Afghanistan]: Amid the ongoing deportation of Afghan migrants from Pakistan, the Taliban urged the nations not to use Afghan immigrants as a ‘political tool’ on Monday, according to TOLOnews.

Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, criticised certain neighbouring nations for deporting Afghan immigrants and urged them to deal with them lawfully.

The remarks were made by the Taliban officials at an event coinciding with International Migrants Day on Monday, as they highlighted the deportation of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Iran, and other nations in recent months.

“The expulsion of our Muslim brothers by the countries is an illegal decision and against fairness and good neighbourliness. The perpetrators failed to achieve the goals that were behind this persecution (expulsion),” he said, according to TOLOnews.

Earlier in November, the Pakistan caretaker government initiated a nationwide campaign to deport illegal foreign nationals, the majority of whom are Afghans. Pakistan’s decision prompted criticism from Afghanistan and several other nations, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

Of the more than four million Afghans living in Pakistan, the Pakistani government estimates that 1.7 million Afghans do not have documents. So far, thousands of Afghans have headed back to Afghanistan through the Torkham and Chaman border crossings.

Meanwhile, the Taliban’s Second Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi said: “A large number of our brothers and sisters returned to their homeland from different countries; the number of them reaches more than 700,000, who came to Afghanistan in a short time and by force,” TOLOnews reported.

On the occasion of International Migrants Day, Khalil Rahman Haqqani, the acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, spoke about the reasons behind the nation’s unlawful migrations.

“Afghans were tortured by different countries and are present all over the world. Even now, after forty years of sadness and poverty, they destroyed their property, children, culture and customs,” Haqqani said, according to TOLOnews.

Earlier in November, the United Nations voiced concern about the welfare of Afghan citizens who have arrived in Afghanistan amid Pakistan’s deportation of Afghan refugees and called for the suspension of the expulsion of Afghan refugees, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.

UN called on the Pakistan government to halt the expulsion of more than one million Afghan refugees, at least during the winter season. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stressed that Pakistan should halt the expulsion of Afghan refugees.

Recently, Iran’s Interior Minister announced the expulsion of 4,00,000 Afghan migrants from the country.
On the other hand, the Director-General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrant Affairs in Kermanshah province had previously declared the prohibition of Afghan citizens from entering 16 provinces of the country.

Meanwhile, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Afghan citizens make up six per cent of the resident population in Iran.