The Afghan Embassy says that nationals face arrests, expulsion in Pakistan’s capital | Migration news
The embassy says Afghan nationals face forced relocation in Islamabad, due to the growing tensions between neighbors.
Afghan Embassy in Pakistan warned that the Government wants to remove everything Afghan refugees From the capital, Islamabad and the neighboring town of Rawalpindi.
On Wednesday, the embassy issued a strong statement, saying that Afghan citizens in both cities were exposed to arrests, tests and police offices to leave and move to other parts of Pakistan.
The warning comes while the relationship between the two countries is still decaying, and Islamabad accused Kabul of failing to suppress cross -border attacks.
“This procedure for the custody of the Afghans, who began without any formal announcement, was not officially announced by the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad through any formal correspondence,” said the Embassy.
“Finally, the officials of the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is a final and final deportation plan/removal of all Afghan refugees not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, but also from the whole country in the near future,” he added.
Last year, Pakistan announced that illegal Afghan refugees would not be allowed to live in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The administration of Islamabad has announced this announcement after claiming that Afghan refugees participated in the opposition rally Pakistani Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) Protest set of parties held in the capital of November last year.
In November 2023, Pakistan launched a widespread criticized repatriation program intended for the return of millions of Afghans, regardless of their legal status.
Pakistan is currently hosting almost over 2.5 million Afghans, according to the Government estimates. About half are registered with the High Commissioner of the United Nations for refugees (UNHCR). Authorities say they have previously extended to June 2025, and they will not be arrested or deported at least until the extension expires.
Last month, in a two -page document issued by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office, the government presented a three -phase plan to return Afghan citizens to its country.
The Afghan Embassy announced that she had already “expressed serious concern” regarding “mass expulsion of Afghan refugees in such a short time frame and the unilateral nature of Pakistan’s decision.”
Pakistan set up on March 31 as a deadline for expulsion of Afghan refugees from Islamabad and Rawalpindi in preparation for their deportation if they did not move to the host country who agreed to take them after the Taliban seized the government 2021.
In the last three years, tens of thousands of Afghans have fled to Pakistan. Many of them have been approved to move to the United States through a program that helps people at risk for their work with the US government, the media, the agencies for assistance and the groups for the rights.
However, US President Donald Trump Paused refugee programs Last month. Since then, about 20,000 Afghanistan has now been in Pakistan.
