Polio Vaccination campaign launches simultaneously in Afghanistan and Pakistan

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Khaama: Recently, Pakistani media reported multiple cases of polio or infantile paralysis in children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the coming month, both countries will launch a children’s polio vaccination campaign along their shared border. Today, Dawn Pakistan published a report stating that Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio is still endemic. Click here to read more (external link).

Other Health News

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack on Taliban Vehicle In Nangarhar

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Afghanistan International: ISIS-K claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack on a Taliban vehicle in Dara-e-Noor District, Nangarhar Province. The Taliban had earlier said that six students of a madrassa were killed in the attack, another student and four members of the group were wounded. ISIS-affiliated Khilafa News Agency said in a statement on its Telegram channel that a bomb attack on a Taliban vehicle killed four members of the group and wounded four others. Click here to read more (external link).

US Defense Ministry: Taliban is not our partner in the fight against ISIS

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Khaama: A Pentagon spokesperson stated on Thursday that the U.S. has international partners in the fight against ISIS. However, Sabrina Singh emphasized that the U.S. does not view the Taliban as a partner in the fight against ISIS. Previously, NBC News reported, citing its sources, that due to the growing global threat posed by ISIS, Biden administration officials are considering expanding cooperation with the Taliban regime to help track down ISIS-Khorasan. The Taliban have had bloody confrontations with ISIS in recent years and claim that ISIS has been suppressed and no longer poses a threat to them or other countries. Despite these claims, Taliban officials continue to deny the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan, even as ISIS-K carries out attacks, particularly targeting the Hazara community in the country. Click here to read more (external link).

UN criticizes Pakistan’s mass eviction of Afghans lacking legal paperwork

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 23, 2024

ISLAMABAD — A group of independent experts from the United Nations raised concerns Friday about Pakistan’s large-scale deportations of undocumented Afghan migrants and called for measures to minimize the dangers faced by vulnerable people among them.

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued findings of its review of Pakistan at an online news conference in Geneva, saying it was “alarmed by the mass exodus” under the country’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.

Michal Balcerzak, the chair of the committee, said that a staggering 700,000 people, including 101,000 between April and June, were deported or returned to Afghanistan as part of the plan.

Pakistani authorities launched the deportation campaign late last year, attributing a surge in nationwide militant attacks to “elements” residing among undocumented foreigners, primarily Afghans.

“The committee highlighted reports of harassment, forced evictions and the detention of 28,500 Afghans from September to December 2023, which have driven many to return to Afghanistan out of fear,” said Balcerzak.

He emphasized that Pakistan should assess “refoulement risks” and take measures to reduce dangers faced by vulnerable groups, such as the risk of unaccompanied children being trafficked or exploited.

VOA contacted but could not immediately receive a response from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson regarding the U.N. findings.

Islamabad rejects criticism of its deportations of foreigners lacking proper paperwork, stating that the campaign is not aimed at a specific nationality and asserting that most of the Afghan returnees departed voluntarily. However, the returnees and Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have questioned those claims.

Balcerzak stated that the U.N. committee “expressed regret for the lack of a legislative and institutional framework in line with international law” and recommended that Pakistan ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Optional Protocol.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Pakistan is not a party to the global convention and has not enacted any national legislation to protect refugees nor has it established procedures to determine the refugee status of people seeking international protection within its territory.

Pakistan also hosts about 1.4 million official Afghan refugees fleeing years of war, persecution and economic hardship in poverty-stricken Afghanistan.

Moreover, nearly 900,000 Afghan citizenship card holders also live in the country. The migrant community received the identity documents several years ago after undergoing a registration process backed by the Pakistani and Afghan governments and financed by the International Organization for Migration.

Last month, Pakistan extended until June 2025 the stay of the 1.4 million Afghan refugees in the country legally.

Iran bans Afghan nationals in 10 South Khorasan counties

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Khaama: An official of the Islamic Republic announced that in South Khorasan province, Afghan residents are only permitted to reside in the Khusf and Birjand counties. Mohsen Safaei, the Director-General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants at the South Khorasan Governorate, stated that Afghan residency is prohibited in the other ten counties of the province. In an interview with Mehr News Agency, published on Thursday, Safaei added that over 10,000 foreign nationals reside in South Khorasan. He mentioned that the majority of foreign residents in South Khorasan are Afghans. Click here to read more (external link).

Kazakhstan Recognises Taliban’s Diplomat as Chargé d’Affaires of Afghan Embassy

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Afghanistan International: Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday, August 21, that it has officially recognised a Taliban diplomat as the Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghan Embassy in the country. The ministry stated that the appointment of Mohammad Rahman Rahmani is significant for the development of relations between the two nations. Last month, Turkmenistan, another key Central Asian country, also accepted a Taliban diplomat as the Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghan Embassy in Ashgabat. Russia and Central Asian countries have been at the forefront of expanding relations with the Taliban regime in the region. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Ridicules Women’s Oppression: An Insulting Perception of Women

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Kabir

8am: Over the past three years, the Taliban have barred girls and women in Afghanistan from attending schools beyond the sixth grade. The group has given various excuses for keeping schools and universities closed to females. Recently, however, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs [Abdul Kabir] responded sarcastically when asked about reopening girls’ schools, saying: “Which schools?!” This remark sparked outrage among citizens, who noted that the laughter added insult to the wounds of millions of girls still hoping for the reopening of schools and universities. Many believe the Taliban place no value on girls’ education and that educational institutions will never reopen for them under the group’s rule. Others have pointed out the Taliban’s astonishing indifference toward educating half of Afghanistan’s population. Click here to read more (external link).

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