2023-10-31 18:28:00
Photo by ABDUL BASIT/AFP via Getty Images
As the deadline set by the government for the deportation of unregistered Afghan refugees expires on November 1, Deprose Muchena, director general of Regional Human Rights Impact at Amnesty International, said:
“Amnesty International reiterates in the strongest terms its call on the Government of Pakistan to immediately reverse its decision to deport unregistered Afghan refugees before the deadline. Pakistan must fulfill its international legal obligations, including respecting the principle of non-refoulement (non-refoulement) and end the repression and harassment of Afghan refugees throughout the country.”
Amnesty International is also calling on the international community to financially support Pakistan in hosting Afghan refugees and to assume its shared responsibility to provide protection to those fleeing persecution in Afghanistan.
More than 1.4 million refugees are at risk of being uprooted from the place where they found refuge and now call home. Pakistan can still act to avoid creating a crisis in which entire families are separated, homeless and deprived of access to livelihoods and basic services as the harsh winter months approach.
This would put especially women and girls in serious danger, as they would be exposed to persecution and other serious human rights violations solely on the basis of their sex and gender. For the vast majority of them, living and studying in Pakistan may be the only opportunity to obtain a formal education. Large numbers of Afghan refugees, including journalists, human rights defenders, women activists and artists, as well as officials and security personnel from the previous government, are also at imminent risk of persecution and repression at the hands of the Taliban if they are forced to return to Afghanistan.
The lives and rights of Afghan refugees are at stake because neither the Pakistani government nor the international community assumes their share of responsibility in their protection. It is simply unacceptable.
Additional informationAmnesty International has already documented previously the harassment carried out against Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
In addition, the organization has sent correspondence to the Government of Pakistan over the past 12 months to raise concerns regarding delays in the registration of Afghan refugees and their harassment and discrimination in the country.
Last week, Amnesty International sent an open letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan to ask him to reverse his decision to return Afghan refugees to his country.
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