(CTN News) – Pakistan is set to commence the second phase of its contentious plan to expel undocumented Afghan refugees from the country starting Sunday. This phase is expected to see over 800,000 Afghans deported, following the forced departure of approximately 541,000 in November last year.
Authorities have warned that refugees who do not leave voluntarily will face arrest and deportation. The Pakistani government has defended the crackdown, citing security concerns and economic pressures.
Prior to the first phase, officials estimated that nearly 4.4 million Afghan refugees were in Pakistan, with about 1.73 million lacking proper documentation.
The deportation order has come in the wake of a significant rise in armed attacks across Pakistan. The government has attributed these attacks to groups and individuals based in Afghanistan, an allegation that the Taliban government in Afghanistan has denied.
UNHCR Urges Pakistan to Consider Refugee Profiles Before Deportations
Philippa Candler, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad, emphasized the need for Pakistan to consider the profiles of undocumented Afghans before expelling them.
“They’re refugees. They’re not involved in terrorist activities. They’re just people who fled and who need protection,” she told Al Jazeera. Candler added that any Afghan nationals involved in terrorism should be dealt with separately.
Reporting from the Khazana refugee camp in Peshawar, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder highlighted the plight of the refugees, many of whom have appealed to the international community and the Pakistani government for more time to leave “in a dignified manner.”
Hyder noted that refugees have complained about nighttime raids on their homes and being forced to leave under harsh conditions. “It’s very difficult to leave after spending a lifetime in a country and then being forced out,” he said.
Pakistan, which is not a signatory to the 1951 UN convention that protects the rights of refugees, also lacks domestic laws to safeguard refugees or procedures to determine the status of individuals seeking international protection within its borders.
Amnesty International has warned of the risk of persecution for refugees returning to Afghanistan.
As the second phase of deportations begins, the fate of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan remains uncertain, with many fearing for their safety and future.
Source: Aljazeera
