Understanding torments the Afghan refugees who face deportation from Pakistan

In a refugee settlement on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, Afghan families gathered on Sunday to monitor the Eid Festival except for a cheerful celebration, but in a state of calm fear. On Monday, thousands of They invited Pakistan the house for generations Facing a deadline for deportation and an uncertain future, perhaps dangerous.

Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, millions of Afghans have resorted to neighboring Pakistan, and they fled violence and instability. Over the decades, many have returned home, but conflict and political turmoil are still returning hundreds of thousands.

The latest wave of displacement followed Taliban acquired Afghanistan In August 2021, after the collapse of the United States -backed Ashraf Ghanaian government. Among them are refugees who promised resettlement in the United States.

Many are now facing a mandatory return home, with the date of Monday, March 31 – a decision that was announced only last month, which sparked widespread fear.

“As a colleague in the Islamic nation and a neighbor, Pakistan must show sympathy and give refugees more time to prepare,” said Haji Abdullah Bukhari, a community leader in Karachi. “The uprooting of their lives in a few days is impossible. Many have spent decades here, and now they have to return to a country that hardly knew it.”

Pakistan’s continuous deportation of Afghan refugees stems from the increasing frustration of the Taliban administration, which is accused by Pakistani militants, especially Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, Responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban denies these allegations, but the tensions are still rising.

In 2023, Pakistan Hundreds of thousands of Afghans were expelled Documented and not documented. However, most refugees awaiting resettlement in Western countries have survived greatly thanks to diplomatic interventions.

However, their fate became increasingly uncertain in January when President Trump issued an executive order Comment all the admission refugees To the United States. This decision left thousands of Afghans They were cut off in Pakistan.

In February, Pakistan announced its plans to restore Afghan citizens pending resettlement by March 31, along with 800,000 Afghan nationality card holders issued by Pakistan and an unknown number of unconventional Afghan immigrants.

The decision sparked widespread relief, especially among those most vulnerable to the Taliban persecution, including former Afghan government officials, security and women’s rights activists and journalists.

“Many have told us that they are afraid of imprisonment, torture, or even death Refugee Joint Labor CommitteeThe Pakistani Civil Society Network calls for international intervention and support for protecting lives.

AbusiveA global campaign that works to secure humanitarian visas for a group of 60 Afghan women’s rights activists stuck in Pakistan, and also expressed deep concern about the deportation campaign.

Among the affected people, Samia Hamza, an activist in the field of women’s rights, legal student and previous international relations under the funding of the United States Denton program. After the Taliban seized power, she protested the ban on girls’ education, which led to her at risk.

With the deterioration of circumstances in late 2021, they are He fled to Pakistan. However, I have since faced great discrimination and economic difficulties while waiting for resettlement through Special immigration visas for Afghan program.

Like many Afghans, it was destroyed by the Trump administration’s decision to stop new immigrants. “We have not heard anything about our cause since then,” said Hamza, who lives with her husband and four children in Islamabad. “With the threat of deportation, returning to Afghanistan means facing a severe danger.”

The Pakistani government ruled out the extension of the deadline for deportation despite the appeal from International organizations The Taliban Administration. To justify the campaign of repression on Afghans, the government attracts similar aspects of continuous deportation efforts in the United States and various European countries.

Meanwhile, Philipa Candler, Pakistan representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency, He urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure voluntary and safe returns. “Forced returns do not help anyone and were not sustainable – many of them have already returned in 2023.”

He remembers a lot of Afghans Horrible scenes from the expulsion operations for 2023Intimidating the moment when the police units may reach – the doors are expelled, the families gather to trucks and transport them to detention centers before being forced to reach Afghanistan.

“We are all praying for a miracle that Pakistan will stop the deportation to an unprecedented country,” said Nike Bakht, the Afghan refugee who arrived in Karachi in 1996.

“I am terrified. What will we do in Afghanistan? Where will we go? How will we stay alive?”