ISLAMABAD: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that Pakistan has been hosting Afghan refugees for over forty years without receiving any funds in return.
On the other hand, the European Union Agency of Asylum and the International Federation of Journalists have termed the presence of millions of illegal immigrants on Pakistani soil a threat to the country.
The report says that 1.7 million Afghans are residing in the country illegally without any proof or registration. Pakistan is not the only nation that has decided to evict illegal Afghan citizens. In 2021, Iran had ordered over one million Afghans to leave the country, it added.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021, more than 1,600,000 Afghans have sought refuge in the neighbouring countries Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Iran, with over 70% being women and children.
The latest figures from the UNHCR estimate that more than 3,700,000 Afghans currently live in Pakistan, with only 1,330,000 registered as refugees.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention and lacks a national asylum system. The UN’s contractee for refugee registration, the Society for Human Rights and Prisoners’ Aid has been criticized for its lengthy administrative processes, leaving many in Pakistan without a way to attain protection or the required documentation. The visas of many refugees who initially held regular entry permits have now expired.
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Moreover, the Federation of Afghanistan Journalists in Exile, a newly formed organization advocating for journalists in Afghanistan and the diaspora, called on the UN, Pakistani authorities, and global organizations to increase support steps for Afghan journalists in exile, end the arrests and abuse in custody by law enforcement, and raised concerns over the wellbeing of journalists and trade unionists deported to Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Ultimatum to Illegal Migrants
Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan have been facing the ire of the authorities after the apex committee a few weeks ago asked them to leave the country by 31 October or else face the music.
The decision was taken in view of several Afghan nationals’ participation in incidents of several terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
