The government of Pakistan must immediately halt the continued detentions, deportations and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees, Amnesty International said on Friday.
According to Islamabad, more than 170,000 Afghans, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades, have had to leave the country since 17 September when the government announced that all ‘unregistered foreign nationals’ had to leave Pakistan by 1 November.
Amnesty International said it is concerned by the complete lack of transparency, due process and accountability in the detentions and deportations taking place over the last week.
This has been exacerbated by increased incidents of harassment and hostility against Afghan refugees in the country, it added.
“Thousands of Afghan refugees are being used as political pawns to be returned to Taliban-ruled (IEA) Afghanistan where their life and physical integrity could be at risk amidst an intensified crackdown on human rights and an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe,” Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigns Deputy Director, said. “No one should be subjected to mass forced deportations, and Pakistan would do well to remember its international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement.”
Saccardi said that if the Pakistani government doesn’t halt the deportations immediately, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.”
