Pakistan Moves to Create Deportation Centers as Afghan Migrant Deadline Nears

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 24, 2023

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani government approved the creation of several deportation centers for hundreds of thousands of illegally residing Afghan nationals they plan to arrest and repatriate to Afghanistan starting next month, VOA learned Tuesday.

Approval of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan comes ahead of the November 1 deadline the government set for all “illegal/unregistered foreigners” and those “overstaying their visa validity periods” to return to their countries of origin or face deportation for breaching Pakistan’s immigration laws.

Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, when announcing the deadline in early October, said an estimated 1.7 million Afghans are among those facing forcible eviction.

Official sources told VOA that special deportation centers would be established in the country’s four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Afghans detained in Punjab and Sindh will be transferred to centers in Rawalpindi and Karachi districts, respectively.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have two deportation centers — in Nowshehra and Chamkani — while Baluchistan will house three facilities in the provincial capital of Quetta, and in Pishin and Qilla Abdullah districts. These two provinces line Pakistan’s nearly 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border with Afghanistan and collectively host most refugee families.

The new plan empowers district administrations, police, prosecution and prison authorities to detain and deport illegally residing Afghan nationals. It specifies that individuals convicted of or currently on trial for minor offenses will be expelled, whereas those convicted of or facing trial for “serious crimes” will not be sent back to Afghanistan.

Islamabad has pledged to carry out the deportations in “a phased and orderly manner.” It has also clarified that the crackdown would not target 1.4 million Afghan refugees living legally in the country and around 900,000 others holding valid Afghan citizenship cards and formally registered in Pakistan as economic migrants.

The government has formally directed law enforcement agencies not to harass refugees there legally and those carrying Afghan nationality cards, although Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and refugee families have alleged that some were subjected to police abuses, mistreatment and extortion.

The Taliban have called on Pakistan to review the deportation plan, decrying it as “inhumane” and “unacceptable.” However, they have lately set up special camps on the Afghan side of the border to provide immediate shelter, health, food and financial aid to families returning from the neighboring country.

Officials in both countries have confirmed that tens of thousands of Afghans have voluntarily returned to their home country since Islamabad announced the deadline nearly a month ago.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, while speaking to an Afghan television channel Tuesday, urged Pakistan to treat Afghan refugees “humanely” and extend the period of deportation. He asked all the refugees to return to their country, claiming they have turned war-torn Afghanistan into a “safer and better” place.

The Taliban seized power from a U.S.-backed government in August 2021 when the United States and NATO troops withdrew from the country after nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.

The Taliban takeover prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee to Pakistan, fearing retribution for their association with Western forces. They included human rights defenders, former government officials, professionals, female activists and journalists. Many have since been relocated to the U.S. and other Western countries, while thousands are awaiting the processing of their applications for resettlement in the United States and Europe.

The Taliban imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, barring teenage girls from receiving an education and many women from work. The restrictions have discouraged many Afghan refugee families from returning to Afghanistan, saying their daughters cannot seek education or work there.

The United Nations also has urged Islamabad to suspend its plan to force out Afghans seeking refuge, warning it could expose them to persecution and other abuse by the country’s de facto Taliban authorities.

Afghanistan ranks last in global index on women’s status

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Ariana: “Since 2021, Afghanistan has ranked the worst in the world to be a woman. Afghan women wake up each day to no jobs, no education and no autonomy over their lives. This report should serve as a wakeup call to world leaders that all Afghanistan’s women are imprisoned,” said Torunn L. Tryggestad, Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo’s Centre for Gender, Peace and Security. Click here to read more (external link).

Freed Journalist Recalls Ordeal in Afghan Prison

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VOA News
October 24, 2023

An Afghan-French journalist who spent 284 days imprisoned in Afghanistan has recalled how he was beaten, nearly choked, and interrogated.

Speaking at a news conference in the French capital, Paris, on Monday, the newly released Mortaza Behboudi said he didn’t think he would make it out of custody alive.

The Taliban arrested Behboudi outside Kabul University in January while the reporter was working on a story about how female students are banned from higher education.

He was held on charges of espionage and illegal support of foreigners until last week, when a Kabul court threw out all charges. The journalist said that neither his French passport nor his media credentials was enough to prevent him from being arrested.

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, which provided legal support and campaigned to free Behboudi, described the court decision as a “huge relief.”

“It is the end of a painful ordeal and of constant worry for more than nine months,” said Christophe Deloire, RSF’s secretary general.

Behboudi was released Oct. 18.

Behboudi is part of the Shi’ite Hazara minority and had moved to France as a refugee in 2015 where he set up the news site Guiti with other exiled Afghans.

Speaking of his experiences in custody, Behboudi said, “I felt kidnapped.”

The journalist was kept in cells that measured two to three square meters, sharing the space with a dozen other detainees. Unable to see daylight, he said he soon lost track of time and was constantly harassed. He says the guards also beat him.

In one harrowing episode that Behboudi recalled to a French media outlet, the journalist said that Islamic State militants in his shared cell tried to choke him. A guard intervened and moved the journalist.

The Sunni Islamic State group for years has targeted predominantly Shi’ite Hazaras and other religious minorities.

Spokesmen for the Taliban did not respond to VOA’s requests for comment sent via messaging app.

A recent report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan has said prisoners are subject to mistreatment and urged the authorities to act.

The Taliban have issued directives on detainees’ rights, and the interior ministry said that an internal investigation found evidence of mistreatment at its detention centers and that it was working to address the issue.

Six months into his imprisonment, Behboudi was moved to a new prison in Kabul where he says conditions improved.

It was at that point that he learned the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders had provided him with a lawyer.

Now back in France and reunited with his family, Behboudi said he wanted to “move on.”

When the journalist traveled to Afghanistan at the start of 2023, he had planned to report on restrictions to women including on access to university and most higher education.

As well as education restrictions, women are currently blocked from being in parks, funfairs, and gyms, and cannot travel without a close male relative. Many are unable to work.

More than 80% of women who worked in media before the Taliban takeover no longer are in the profession, according to RSF data.

Afghanistan ranks as the worst performing country globally for the status of women, according to the Women, Peace and Security Index released by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute Oslo.

Behboudi said he felt fortunate to be released but that other Afghan journalists are not so lucky.

Under the Taliban, “Everything is censored these days,” Behboudi said.

“If I take photo on the street, I risk being arrested … There is no longer freedom of expression, there is no longer freedom of the press in Afghanistan.”

The nonprofit Afghanistan Journalists’ Support Organization welcomed Behboudi’s release.

“The latest development underscores two critical points,” the organization said in a statement on his release.

“The unity and collaborative efforts of national and international professional bodies in supporting Afghan journalists can prove to be a powerful force,” the statement read, adding that Behboudi’s case “highlights the vital role played by international journalist support organizations.”

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.

Afghan Women’s Rights Group Reveals Another Member Has Spent A Month In Detention

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
October 24, 2023

A women’s rights group in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, said on October 24 that one of its members has spent a month in detention on unknown charges, the latest sign of a severe crackdown by the ruling Taliban militants on activists fighting against official restrictions on almost every aspect of their lives.

Munizha Siddiqi was arrested on September 24, the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women said, becoming the third member of the group to be detained. The report of her detention comes after the detentions of Neda Parwani and Zholya Parsi, also members of the group, who were arrested on September 19.

“Their only crime is seeking justice against the draconian Taliban policies,” Laila Baseem, a group member, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

The Islamist Taliban regained power in August 2021 after a two-decade insurgency against the Western-backed government and have deeply restricted the rights and freedoms of women and girls.

Last month, the UN rights chief, Volker Turk, accused the Taliban of a “shocking level of oppression” of women and girls and said human rights in the country were in a state of collapse.

Hundreds of Afghan women have been detained by the Taliban and Baseem said that, while the detention of some of her colleagues came to light recently, others have been languishing in prison without being noticed.

“Some time ago, the Taliban arrested approximately eight girls, and some of them have not been in contact with their families,” Baseem said, adding that the families of some detained or disappeared activists are reluctant to make their ordeal public because they fear attracting attention.

The Taliban didn’t respond to repeated Radio Azadi requests to talk about the arrests of Afghan women activists and its hard-line government has refused to confirm their detention.

Upon seizing power, the Taliban gave assurances that it would not return to the infamously brutal rule it employed while first in power from 1996 to 2001.

Since the takeover, the group has banned women from education, employment, and public life with few exceptions. Women are also required to observe a strict Islamic dress code and are required to travel with male guardians. They have been deprived of leisure and banned from parks and public baths in policies rooted in the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.

In its latest report on human rights in the country, the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the Taliban restrictions against women are becoming increasingly worse.

“The de facto authorities continue to arrest human rights defenders, particularly women’s rights activists and media workers, on unknown grounds,” the report noted.

Writing by RFE/RL’s Abubakar Siddique

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team Triumphs Over Pakistan by Eight Wickets

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8am: In the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 50 overs tournament, the Afghanistan national cricket team emerged victorious against their Pakistani counterparts, securing a remarkable win by eight wickets. The thrilling encounter took place on Monday night, October 23, at the iconic Chidambaram Stadium in India. Looking ahead, the national team is gearing up to face Sri Lanka on October 30 and will later compete against the Netherlands national cricket team on November 3. Click here to read more (external link).

 

Fresh Tremor Hits Afghanistan Amid Mounting Concerns Over Women, Funding

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 23, 2023

The western Afghan province of Herat was rocked by another earthquake overnight, sending many of the region’s residents, already reeling from a series of major tremblors over the past two weeks, back into the streets.

The 4.4-magnitude event early on October 23 was the fifth major earthquake to hit the region since October 7, when a 6.3-magnitude quake killed more than 1,500 people and injured more than 2,100 others. Major aftershocks on October 11, 13, and 15 have caused additional damage and displaced more than 100,000 people.

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed due to the earthquakes and aftershocks, leaving many people living in makeshift shelters or even among the rubble as cold weather moves in and landslides have been reported.

“It is a serious problem for the residents of Herat, as many spent another night on the streets after this tremor,” Ahmadullah Muttaqi, a Taliban spokesman in Herat, told Radio Azadi after the October 23 earthquake, which followed a warning by aid agencies that women, the worst victims of the tremors, are finding it difficult to access international aid being offered to the victims and survivors.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on October 23 that more than 80 tons of medical supplies arrived in Kabul a day earlier, including supplies for pregnant women and children who have fallen ill due to a lack of clean water.

“The medical supplies that arrived in Kabul today are a lifeline for thousands of children and families in need of immediate, life-saving assistance in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes,” said Fran Equiza, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan.

The earthquakes are some of the worst to hit the country, already suffering from multiple humanitarian crises brought on by drought and poverty, in more than 25 years.

Exacerbating the difficulties for women — around 60 percent of the dead are said to be women — are the policies of the Taliban rulers, who since returning to power in August 2021 have restricted access to education, employment, and public life for females.

The UN said in a report on October 21 that women were struggling to obtain humanitarian aid without male relatives or identity documents. The absence of female aid workers because of the Taliban’s ban on Afghan women’s employment by aid groups is also hampering their access to what they need to help survive the disasters.

“The earthquakes, when combined with the ongoing humanitarian and women’s rights crisis, have made the situation not only difficult for women and girls, but deadly,” Alison Davidian, the UN special representative for women in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press.

“When natural disasters strike, women and girls are impacted most and often considered least in crisis response and recovery,” she added.

Last week, the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) appealed for $19 million to provide emergency food aid to 100,000 in Herat.

“We are having to take this food from an already severely underfunded program,” said Ana Maria Salhuana, deputy country director of the WFP in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, the WFP reduced food aid to millions of Afghans because of massive funding shortfalls.

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

U.S. Watchdog Accuses Afghan Taliban Of Benefitting From UN Aid Programs

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 23, 2023

A recently published report by a U.S. government watchdog for assistance to Afghanistan says the unrecognized Taliban regime is reaping economic benefits through poorly monitored international aid, which it views as a “revenue stream.”

The latest quarterly report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), covering the period ending July 30, says the Taliban takes credit for and exercises control over most international assistance, “particularly aid from the UN.” It adds that “the UN’s continuing deference to the Taliban…has made the UN vulnerable to Taliban influence.”

The de facto Taliban government seized control of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international coalition in August 2021. It remains largely unrecognized by the international community and has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, particularly against women and girls. It has barred women from working for assistance organizations and has restricted the ability of such organizations to work in the education sector.

According to the SIGAR report, the United States “remains the largest donor to the Afghan people, having appropriated more than $2.35 billion since the Taliban takeover.”

Citing a report written by the United States Institute for Peace at the request of USAID, the SIGAR report says the Taliban government has replaced civil servants in many key ministries with “Taliban loyalists” and has overseen “a wave of increasing encroachment” on the activity of NGOs.

The USIP wrote that “the Taliban appear to view the UN system as yet another revenue stream” and seek “means of profiting from engagement with the UN.”

“According to multiple UN officials across different agencies,” the SIGAR report states, “the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming.”

The deputy spokesman for the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, denied the allegations in comments quoted by Afghanistan’s Tolo news agency on October 21, saying they “are far from the truth.”

“The Islamic emirate regulates all issues and affairs and everything that is going on in Afghanistan according to the principles and interests of its country,” Karimi said.

Inspector General John Sopko told Congress in April that “SIGAR could not guarantee that U.S. funding intended for impoverished Afghans was not falling into the hands of the Taliban.”

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Afghanistan Freedom Front Claims Responsibility for Killing Four Taliban Fighters in Kapisa Province

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8am: The Afghanistan Freedom Front has announced that it successfully killed four Taliban fighters and injured two others during an attack on a Taliban base in Kapisa province. According to an official press release from the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the assault occurred on Sunday night, October 22nd, in the “Rig-Rawan” area in central Kapisa. It is important to note that the Afghanistan Freedom Front had previously launched five rockets over the Hese Awal-e Kohistan district building in Kapisa province around midnight on Friday, October 20th. Click here to read more (external link).

UNFPA says 7,500 pregnant women affected by Herat earthquakes

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Ariana: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that 7,500 pregnant women were affected by the recent string of earthquakes in Herat province. The UNFPA wrote on X, that the loss of loved ones has a very bad effect on pregnant women. This United Nations agency said that it has sent psychotherapeutic counselors to the region to give advice in order to help them spiritually in reducing the grief caused by the death of their loved ones. On the other hand, the earthquake has severely damaged health centers and facilities. According to reports, at least 40 health centers or clinics have been destroyed or damaged as a result of these earthquakes. Click here to read more (external link).

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