By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 1, 2023 Pakistan on November 1 began rounding up undocumented foreigners, the vast majority of them Afghans, hours ahead of the deadline for them to evacuate the country. The country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement before the midnight deadline that “a process to arrest the foreigners…for deportation” had begun, but that
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 31, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Tens of thousands of Afghan migrants on trucks and other vehicles rushed to the border Tuesday, the last day of an official deadline for all foreigners without legal status to depart Pakistan voluntarily or face arrest and forcible expulsion. Pakistani officials have reported that refugee families, many
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 30, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Monday that almost 200,000 Afghan nationals voluntarily returned to Afghanistan over the past two months ahead of an official deadline for all illegally residing foreigners to leave or face deportation. The Pakistani government has ordered “illegal/unregistered foreigners” and those “overstaying their visa validity periods” to
Lisa Schlein VOA News October 29, 2023 GENEVA — U.N. agencies are warning that Pakistan’s planned expulsion of more than a million “undocumented” foreign nationals risks triggering a human rights catastrophe. They are appealing to Pakistani authorities to suspend these deportations as a November 1 deadline looms for the forcible return of 1.4 million Afghan nationals
8am: Some Parwan province residents have filed complaints about the severe conduct of the Taliban’s Moral Police in specific areas of the province. They allege that the Moral Police, on occasion, engage in insulting, belittling, and even physically assaulting individuals. According to their accounts, these Taliban members publicly shame and mock young men for shaving
Sidra Dar VOA News October 27, 2023 KARACHI, PAKISTAN — It was an emotional scene at Sohrab Goth bus terminal when Jannat Bibi, a 50-year-old Afghan woman, bid farewell to the only home her children have ever known. After 35 years in Karachi, she and her eight children were making the difficult journey back to Afghanistan.
8am: In a recent development, Taliban officials in Sar-e Pul province have issued alarming threats to teachers, citing their short beards and the absence of turbans as reasons for potential dismissal. According to a formal statement released by the Taliban’s education directorate in Sar-e Pul, sources shared with Hasht-e Subh Daily on October 27th, approximately
UN News: OHCHR is urging the authorities to halt deportations, which are set to begin on 1 November, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva. Currently, more than two million undocumented Afghans are living in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom arrived after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. “We believe many of
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi October 26, 2023 Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have released education activist Matiullah Wesa after holding him in custody for more than seven months, his family announced. Wesa, the founder of the PenPath nongovernmental organization, had campaigned for girls’ access to education. He was arrested in Kabul in March by the Taliban-led government and accused
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 25, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban are pushing back against persistent global criticism of their Islamic governance in Afghanistan, claiming their supreme leader’s decrees, including a general amnesty, have promoted national reconciliation and put the war-torn country on the path to stability. Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, Wednesday posted a