Taliban Decry Pakistan’s Decision To Evict 1.7 Million Afghan Immigrants

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 4, 2023

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban Wednesday urged Pakistan to review its plans to expel Afghan immigrants, rejecting charges the displaced community is involved in the security problems facing the neighboring country.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released the statement a day after the Pakistani government ordered undocumented immigrants, including more than 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1.

Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told a news conference in Islamabad Tuesday that “illegal immigrants” who stay in Pakistan beyond the deadline would be arrested and deported to their respective countries.

“The behavior of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable. The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan,” Mujahid said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them,” the Taliban spokesman wrote.

Bugti defended Pakistan’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, saying that Afghan nationals carried out 14 of the 24 suicide bombings that have taken place in Pakistan this year. He added that eight of the 11 militants who recently raided two Pakistani military installations were Afghans.

“We are coming under attacks from Afghanistan, and we have evidence showing that Afghans are involved in the violence,” the Pakistani minister said.

He clarified that more than 1.4 million Afghans residing in Pakistan as officially designated refugees and at least 850,000 Afghan citizen card holders are not the crackdown target.

Islamabad says that fugitive leaders and militants of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have moved to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power there two years ago and have stepped up cross-border attacks.

The Taliban deny allowing the TTP or any other group to threaten other countries, particularly Pakistan, in line with their international counterterrorism commitments.

TTP-led insurgent attacks have killed more than 750 civilians and security forces in Pakistan in the first nine months of 2023, a 19% increase compared with the previous year.

The United Nations and human rights groups have expressed concerns over Pakistani plans to evict Afghan immigrants, saying those facing deportations include hundreds of thousands who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban reclaimed control of the country in August 2021, fearing persecution by the hardline de facto authorities.

The displaced community also refuses to return to Afghanistan, citing sweeping restrictions the Taliban have imposed on women’s access to education and work.

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Pakistan to Begin Deportation of 1.7 Million Undocumented Afghans

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Kakar

Ayaz Gul
Sarah Zaman
VOA News
October 3, 2023

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Pakistan has ordered all undocumented immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1, vowing mass deportations for those who stay.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the plan Tuesday at a high-level meeting of his top civilian and military officials in Islamabad.

“All illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan have until November 1 to return to their countries voluntarily,” Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told a post-meeting news conference. “And if they fail to leave by the deadline, all our state law enforcement agencies will unleash an operation with full-throttle to deport them.”

Bugti did not share any numbers for undocumented immigrants in Pakistan, but he estimated that more than 1.7 million Afghans are among them.

He said the officials have also decided that Afghans may enter Pakistan only with a valid passport and visa starting November 1.

The “one document regime” policy will replace the decades-old practice of granting special travel permits to individuals with divided tribes straddling the nearly 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The crackdown on undocumented Afghan immigrants stems from a dramatic surge in terrorist attacks in Pakistan in recent months. Officials say the deadly violence is being directed from militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

“We have come under 24 suicide bomb attacks since January, and 14 of them were carried out by Afghan nationals,” Bugti said. He added that eight of the 11 militants who recently raided two Pakistani military installations in southwestern Baluchistan province were Afghans.

“We have evidence that Afghans were involved in these attacks and are taking up the issue through our foreign ministry with Taliban authorities in Afghanistan,” he said.

The minister said the involvement of Afghans in violence against Pakistan showed that “they are not honoring the edict” of Hibatullah Akhunddza, the supreme leader of the Taliban, that forbids cross-border attacks.

“We hope and respect him greatly and expect his edict to be enforced in letter and spirit,” Bugti said.

Islamabad maintains that leaders and militants of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have moved to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power there two years ago and have stepped up cross-border attacks.

De facto Afghan authorities in Kabul deny allowing the TTP or any other group to threaten other countries, particularly Pakistan, in line with their counterterrorism commitments.

Minister Bugti said that more than 1.4 million Afghans residing in Pakistan as officially designated refugees and 850,000 Afghan citizen card holders are not the target of the deportation campaign.

Pakistan would issue only as many visas as it can manage if would-be Afghan deportees would like to come back to the country, Bugti said.

“We have the capacity, but it is our prerogative to decide how many of them we want to host and how many visas we need to issue,” the minister said while responding to a VOA question.

TTP-led insurgent attacks in Pakistan have killed more than 750 civilians and security forces in the first nine months of 2023, showing more than a 19% increase compared with the previous year, according to Pakistani officials and independent assessments.

Critics said the issue of undocumented immigrants needs to be addressed but raised questions about whether this will help Pakistan tackle the growing terrorism problem facing it.

“Unfortunately, it is a frustrated response of an angry regime which in the face of rising militant threat is taking it out on the hapless Afghan refugees,” said Abdul Basit, associate research fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.

“It will further increase an already hostile Afghan public opinion against the Pakistani state,” Basit said.

The United Nations and global human rights groups have expressed concerns over Pakistani plans to evict Afghans who illegally immigrated. They say hundreds of thousands who fled Afghanistan after the hardline Taliban seized power in August 2021 are among those facing deportation.

“Many Afghans living in fear of persecution by the Taliban had fled to Pakistan, where they have been subjected to waves of arbitrary detentions, arrests and the threat of deportation,” Amnesty International said Monday on X, formerly Twitter. “It is deeply concerning that the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention.”

 

Taliban Have Never Severed Ties with Al-Qaeda, Says Michael McCaul

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8am: Michael McCaul, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, has stated that the Taliban have never severed their ties with Al-Qaeda and are currently fighting against “ISIS-K as part of an internal struggle for power.” In a press release issued on Monday, October 2nd, the Committee reported McCaul’s remarks: “If the Taliban were truly upholding their counterterrorism obligations, they would work to defeat Al-Qaeda instead of paying, protecting, and employing them.” McCaul emphasized that the Taliban’s war against the ISIS-K does not adhere to the Doha Agreement but rather serves the purpose of preserving their internal authority. According to him, the Biden administration has attempted “to downplay the Taliban’s terrorist activity.” Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Close Gates of Two Private Schools in Ghazni Due to “Shaved Beards of Educators”

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8am: These institutions were shut down on Monday, October 2nd, by officials from the Taliban’s Directorate for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Ghazni city. Sources speaking to Hasht-e Subh have stated that the Taliban closed the gates of these schools due to the “shaved beards of male educators and the lack of proper veiling by female teachers.” According to Hasht-e Subh’s findings, in the past month, the Taliban have closed six educational centers, including two private schools and one vocational training center for tailoring and painting arts, which catered to both male and female students in Ghazni. Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistan Tightens Entry Rules for Afghan Travelers

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 2, 2023

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Pakistan has decided that all citizens of neighboring Afghanistan will be required to enter the country with a valid passport and visa starting next month, similar to travelers from other countries, VOA learned Monday.

The landmark “one document regime” policy will replace the decades-old practice of granting special travel permits to individuals with divided tribes straddling the nearly 2,600-kilometer border between the two countries.

The “passport as the only traveling document is going to be implemented from November 1, 2023,” according to an official federal directive sent to immigration authorities at all Afghan border crossings and seen by VOA.

“No other document shall be accepted to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan,” the document said. It instructed relevant authorities to make necessary arrangements and advertise the decision in “visible places” at all crossing points along the border.

The government has yet to make a formal announcement about the new policy. Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said Monday that he would discuss in detail Afghan-related policy matters at a news conference on Tuesday.

A senior Pakistani official confirmed the new travel rules for Afghans to VOA, saying Islamabad hopes Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities will cooperate in implementing the decision. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official said Islamabad was hopeful Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities would cooperate in implementing the “one document regime” decision to help deter illegal crossers, including militants and smugglers.

“Since the Taliban have brought normalcy and good governance in the country, they will comply with the international norms governing the conduct of bilateral relations, including the visa regime,” the Pakistani official said.

The Taliban did not immediately comment on the new travel requirements.

Passengers and trade convoys travel through the northwestern Torkham and southwestern Chaman border crossings between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan. Several other crossing points are used only for bilateral and transit trade activities.

The passport and visa requirement will primarily hit divided tribes in the Pashtun-dominated southern Afghan province of Kandahar and surrounding border areas.

Thousands of tribespeople travel through the Chaman border crossing daily to meet family members on the Pakistani side or in search of work and return home before sunset. They use a slip of paper, locally called tazkira, granted to them under the so-called easement rights that guarantee free travel.

The new policy comes amid a nationwide crackdown on Afghans living illegally in Pakistan or not renewing their visas.

Last Thursday, Pakistani caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani announced that his government would deport illegal Afghan and other foreign immigrants.

The move will likely hit about 1 million Afghans, including those who took refuge in the country after the hardline Taliban swept back to power in Kabul two years ago.

Pakistanis must possess a passport and valid visa to visit Afghanistan.

Jilani said that officially registered Afghan refugees and those with legal documents would not be asked to leave Pakistan. “But those who have come here illegally, whether Afghans or nationals of any country, will have to go back to their respective countries. We will strictly implement the policy.”

Amnesty International renewed Monday a call for Pakistani authorities to stop harassing and arbitrarily arresting Afghans seeking refuge.

“Many Afghans living in fear of persecution by the Taliban had fled to Pakistan, where they have been subjected to waves of arbitrary detentions, arrests, and the threat of deportation,” Amnesty said on X, formerly Twitter.

“It is deeply concerning that the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention,” the rights watchdog wrote.

Pakistani police have, in recent days, arrested hundreds of Afghans in raids in and around the capital, Islamabad, saying they did not possess valid visas and would be deported back to their country.

Related

Afghan refugee population in Iran surges to 5 million

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Khaama: Recent investigations reveal that the number of Afghan refugees in Iran has surged from approximately 2 million to 5 million over the past two years despite ongoing reports of mistreatment.  Iranian media, citing the country’s Ministry of Interior, have reported that before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, 2 million people lived in Iran. However, this number has now increased to 5 million. Click here to read more (external link).

The Taliban beat three young men in Nimruz Province for shaving their beards

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8am: Local sources in Nimruz province have reported that the Taliban Moral Police beat three young men in the province for shaving their beards. Sources indicate that on Sunday, October 1st, the Taliban Moral Police publicly assaulted at least three young men. This incident took place in the women’s market area of Zaranj City, the capital of Nimruz province, in the presence of both women and men. Click here to read more (external link).

Muttaqi: Taliban will not take steps on girls’ education that could cause a leadership rift

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Muttaqi

Ariana: In an interview with BBC Pashto broadcast on Sunday, Muttaqi said that the issue of girls’ education is an internal issue of Afghanistan. “We are trying to take steps which, God forbid, would not cause division. We look for a reasonable solution for every issue. We will find a solution that will be free of risk and controversy, even if it involves delay,” Muttaqi said. Click here to read more (external link).