Pakistan Police Urged to End ‘Oppressive’ Expulsion of Afghan Refugees

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The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Sunday urged Pakistan’s police to cease their “oppressive actions” against Afghan refugees after reports of the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan.

It came after the Afghan Embassy said on June 8 that Pakistani police had detained 250 Afghan nationals despite having travel documents. Some of them were expelled from the country, according to the AIHRC.

The AIHRC described the situation as “tragic” owing to the “serious threat” it poses to the lives of political activists, protesting women, former government officials, and artists fleeing persecution in Afghanistan.

It urged Pakistan authorities to refrain from detaining and deporting Afghan refugees and called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to negotiate with Pakistan to protect Afghan refugees.

The AIHRC also called for a probe into the human rights situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the establishment of support for them in accordance with the “accepted standards of refugee and migrant rights.”

In December 2022, Pakistan’s National Commission on Human Rights stated that women and children were among the 1,200 Afghan nationals being held at a high-security jail in Karachi, Pakistan.

Pictures of some Afghan children crammed into a cell of the central jail in Karachi went viral on social media, drawing appeals for their release along with their parents.

Police and local government officials said the detainees will be deported to Afghanistan after serving their sentences or when the paperwork for their release is completed by their attorneys.

Afghan families gather to receive food stuff distributing by an Islamabad-based Christian organization on the outskirts of Chaman, a town in the Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, on the border with Afghanistan, on Aug. 31, 2021. (AP Photo)

More than 100,000 Afghans entered Pakistan after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the United States announced last week a new process that will allow Afghan nationals to renew their parole and remain in the country for another two years.

“The new process is streamlined and will be at no cost, and will provide for a two-year renewal of parole for qualifying individuals,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

According to the DHS, the renewal requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons and for “a significant public benefit.”

“Afghan nationals are encouraged to pursue a permanent status in the United States for which they may be eligible, including through the Special Immigrant and asylum processes,” it added.

The Taliban has severely curtailed women’s rights in Afghanistan after assuming power in 2021. This includes prohibiting Afghan women from attending universities and secondary schools.

The United States has strongly condemned the move and warned that it would have “significant consequences” and denied the Taliban’s desired legitimacy as Afghanistan’s ruler.

On June 8, Amnesty International published a report detailing “the war crime of collective punishment” committed by the Taliban against civilians in the Panjshir province.

According to the report, the former Afghan government fled to Panjshir with equipment and arms and joined forces with the National Resistance Front (NRF), triggering retaliatory actions from the Taliban.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said the Taliban is targeting civilians in Panjshir owing to suspicions of their affiliation with the NRF.

The Taliban allegedly committed extrajudicial executions, torture, hostage-taking, illegal detention, and the torching of civilian homes.

“Each individual act is abhorrent, and this conduct in sum amounts to collective punishment – in itself, a war crime,” Callamard said in the report.

“Thousands of people are being swept up in the Taliban’s continued oppression, which is clearly intended to intimidate and punish. The Taliban’s deliberate targeting of civilians in Panjshir must stop immediately,” she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.