As the clock ticked down to the November 1 deadline, tens of thousands of Afghan refugees have been vacating Pakistan in desperation. The vulnerable refugees have been fleeing in lorries and trucks to enter Afghanistan via the Torkham and Chaman borders, before law enforcement agencies begin a humiliating nationwide crackdown operation on them.
Pakistani authorities have started establishing holding centers for “illegal migrants” in Rawalpindi, Attock and Islamabad. The Capital Development Authority has also intensified demolishing operations, razing houses of 800 “illegal migrants” in Islamabad so far.
On October 30, Sarfaraz Bugti, interior minister of the caretaker government, threatened that the unregistered individuals staying in Pakistan after the deadline, will be prosecuted and detained in designated “holding centers” until deportation to their respective countries of origin.
The number of Afghans fleeing the country has raised alarms, with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) recording 14,700 documented Afghan refugees leaving Pakistan as of October 18.
The Punjab government also said of having established “centralized centers” designed for Afghan refugees to be kept before deportation. At least 52,000 undocumented residents have been identified by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government for the crackdown.
On November 1, the deputy commissioner of Rawalpindi, Hasan Waqas Cheema, told The Dawn that there are 55,000 Afghan nationals in the city. Of these 12,000 are identified as ‘illegal foreigners’ and around 4,000 have no legal documents or have expired visas. Cheema said that they will be shifted to camps and then deported to the Afghan border.
The caretaker government led by prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar claimed that at least 200,000 Afghan refugees have “returned to Afghanistan” within the past two months in September and October.
However, several rights organizations have ascertained that a large number of vulnerable refugees leaving Pakistan ahead of winter is going to pose a humanitarian crisis as the Taliban regime is struggling to stabilize the looming socio-economic crisis. Over 25 million Afghans are already living in poverty, as per UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Moreover, the recent series of earthquakes that struck the Herat province in October also had a devastating impact on thousands of Afghans.
The additional burden of returning refugees, many of who would claim their properties in Afghanistan that have been allegedly grabbed by different groups and individuals over the years, would add to the burgeoning crisis.
“The Pakistani government is using threats, abuse, and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers without legal status to return to Afghanistan or face deportation,” the Human Rights Watch noted.
On October 31, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also expressed concern over the government’s decision to expel undocumented foreigners (especially Afghans), fearing the mass deportation can trigger a “humanitarian crisis”.
The HRCP has written a letter to UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi on Tuesday in which HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani insisted that the mass deportation is being carried out despite the strong criticism and opposition from the civil society and international rights bodies.
The letter added that forcible deportation will be affecting thousands of vulnerable refugees with low-income, especially widows who came to Pakistan in search of livelihood, along with children, elderly, and persons living with disabilities.
UNHCR estimates that there are over 3.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan after fleeing a series of violent conflicts in Afghanistan. An additional 700,000 Afghans have also taken asylum in Pakistan after fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
Among them, a total of 1.3 million refugees are registered with the UN, and around 88,000 have the legal status to remain in Pakistan, while roughly 1.7 million are deemed to be without any legal documents.
Many refugees have in the past complained of facing repeated arbitrary detentions, harassment and forcible deportation at the hands of security agencies as their Proof of Registration expired on June 30.
UNHCR-affiliated Society for Human Rights and Prisoners’ Aid has tried to assist these refugees in obtaining token cards but police has not accepted these tokens of any value, forcing many to flee.