A good week after the expiry of the ultimatum for voluntary departure, Pakistan reiterates that it wants to repatriate Afghan refugees without residency rights “with all its might.” However, 1.4 million recognized people are likely to stay.
Despite criticism from human rights organizations, Pakistan is sticking to the mass deportation of Afghan refugees without residency rights. “I want to make it clear that the policy of repatriating illegal immigrants will continue with full force,” caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said at a press conference. At the same time, he confirmed a right of residence for those who are legally in the country.
1.4 million recognized Afghan refugees live in Pakistan with “full respect and safety,” said Kakar. However, everyone else could not stay in the country indefinitely. Thousands of Afghan refugees are currently leaving Pakistan every day. The government in Islamabad had given refugees without residence status a deadline of November 1st to leave the country voluntarily, otherwise they would face arrest and deportation.
According to government figures, more than 250,000 Afghans have returned to their home country since the measure was announced. According to the aid organization, the local people hardly have any water, food or shelter. The Islamist Taliban who rule there set up makeshift camps near the border and promised to help the returnees.
The government says it is in talks with Western countries
International aid organizations had heavily criticized the Pakistani government for wanting to implement its plans despite Taliban rule and catastrophic economic conditions in Afghanistan. According to government figures from Islamabad in October, around 4.4 million Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan, 1.7 million of them without valid documents.
They include at least 25,000 people who worked for the US military, aid organizations or the media, among others, and who are waiting in Pakistan to be allowed to leave the country in Western countries, including Germany. A US Embassy spokesman said Washington was in close contact with the government in Islamabad about those who had applied for entry to the US. According to Prime Minister Kakar, the Pakistani government is holding talks with Western countries to facilitate the onward travel of Afghans who have agreed to accept them.
Federal admission program for Afghanistan
Afghans who are particularly at risk can also come to Germany through the federal government’s admission program. It is aimed at people who are particularly exposed through their commitment to women and human rights or through work in the areas of justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport or science. So far, around 600 people have been accepted into the program, but according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, only thirteen people have entered Germany. According to the information, a total of around 30,000 particularly vulnerable Afghans entered Germany. This included around 19,300 former local employees who worked for federal government institutions and their families.
Measures are justified by the threat of terrorism
Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti cited a worsening security situation as the reason for the deportations. In addition to a severe economic crisis, Pakistan is struggling with a strengthening of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). According to the government, Afghan refugees are also responsible for this.
“After the formation of the Afghan interim government in August 2021, we had strong hope that there would be long-term peace in Afghanistan,” Prime Minister Kakar said, according to Pakistani media. However, the hope that the Taliban government would prevent extremist groups like the TTP from operating from Afghanistan against the neighboring country has not been fulfilled. In fact, since the formation of the Afghan transitional government in Pakistan, there has been a 60 percent increase in terrorist attacks and a 500 percent increase in suicide attacks.
“In the last two years, 2,267 innocent citizens lost their lives due to this tragic bloodshed caused by the TTP terrorists who carried out cowardly attacks on Pakistanis from Afghan soil,” Kakar said.