KARACHI: For Ayesha Naimatullah, who lives in a small apartment on the outskirts of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, Eid Al-Fitr is usually a joyous occasion despite the limited earnings of her husband, who sells fruit at a nearby market.
But this year is different as the family of seven faces imminent deportation to Afghanistan, amid an expulsion drive aimed at foreigners that started in November.
Last month, the Pakistan government said it had started mapping Afghan nationals with Pakistan-issued citizen cards for deportation as part of phase two of its expulsion drive in which around half a million so-called undocumented Afghan refugees have already been expelled. The new post-Eid campaign will mainly target 600,000 refugees who hold Pakistan-issued Afghan citizenship cards (ACCs).
Following the central government’s policy, the government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the provincial capital, last week announced a crackdown on refugees holding ACCs, and their deportation is likely to begin shortly after the three-day Eid holiday.
“How can there be happiness [on Eid] when they are expelling us? Everyone is happy, but Afghans are all sad,” Naimatullah told Arab News. “They have made yellow cards (ACCs), which Pakistan itself made for us, but they are expelling us.”
In October 2023, Pakistan announced phase one of the ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’ with a 30-day deadline for “undocumented” Afghan refugees to leave the country or be subject to deportation, putting 1.4 million refugees at risk.
In phase two of the ‘repatriation plan,’ Pakistan-issued ACC holders will be expelled from the country after the Eid Al-Fitr festival, a major Muslim holiday that fell on April 10. Phase three is expected to result in the deportation of UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders.
Until November last year, before it began the deportation drive, Pakistan was home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom were undocumented, according to the government. Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The expulsion drive started after a spike in suicide bombings last year which the Pakistan government — without providing evidence — said mostly involved Afghans. Islamabad has also blamed them for smuggling and other militant violence and crime.
At the time, cash-strapped Pakistan, navigating record inflation and a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program, also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.
Despite the challenges facing migrants, Pakistan is the only home many of them know and a sanctuary from the economic deprivation and extreme social conservatism that Afghanistan is grappling with.
While hundreds of thousands have left Pakistan since the expiry of a November 1, 2023 deadline, the South Asian country still hosts around 1.35 million registered Afghan refugees, with an additional 803,200 possessing ACCs, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
However, these ACCs now stand null and void, despite no mention of an expiry date.
“EID OR GRIEF”
Naimatullah, who has two daughters and three sons, recounted her parents’ migration to Pakistan following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, saying she and her children has been born in Karachi but still faced the threat of deportation.
“We are in a very difficult situation, neither do we have a place [to live] in Afghanistan, nor is there any life there,” she sighed. “There is nothing at all.”
Kamila Bibi, 16, echoed her mother’s concerns, particularly with regards to her education.
The Taliban administration since coming to power has closed most secondary schools to girls, stopped female students attending universities and stopped many Afghan women working for aid groups and the United Nations.
“There [Afghanistan], a ban has also been imposed on girls’ education. If we go there, all our hard work will go to waste, and my education will also be ruined,” Kamila said.
“I study for six to eight hours a day, and all this hard work of mine could go to waste if they expel Afghans,” she added.
“Eid doesn’t hold much meaning [to us] because my studies are being disrupted. Education is Eid for me, it means everything … Our studies will also be ruined and our future will be destroyed [if deported].”
Kamila’s 14-year-old brother, Naseebullah, who dreams of becoming a doctor, said the threat of expulsion had cast a shadow over the 6th grader’s aspirations.
“It will become difficult to achieve that dream and I may never be able to become a doctor,” he said.
Waseema Hashmatullah, a 65-year-old housewife who survives on the earnings of her son, a daily wager, shared the same sentiment as Naimatullah’s family.
“We are sitting with this same worry. There is nothing there [in Afghanistan],” she said. “This is the worry this Eid.”
Hashmatullah’s daughter, Zarghona, a single mother and a registered refugee, joined her paternal family in Pakistan after a divorce in which she lost custody of her children to a husband who lives in Afghanistan.
“I don’t know how we spent these fasting days [in Ramadan] and now Eid is coming, I don’t know how this Eid will pass,” she said, worried about whether her younger siblings would be able to continue studying upon returning to Afghanistan.
“My entire family is in this dilemma these days. We don’t know whether it is Eid coming for us or grief.”
For Afghans in Pakistan, deportation threat clouds Eid Al-Fitr holiday
https://arab.news/g7vgb
For Afghans in Pakistan, deportation threat clouds Eid Al-Fitr holiday
- Pakistan has announced it will start expelling Afghans with state-issued citizen cards after Eid Al-Fitr
- Pakistan has already expelled around half a million ‘undocumented’ Afghan refugees since last November
US freezes immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, including Pakistan
- Immigrant visas to be suspended from Jan 21, tourist visas unaffected
- Move targets “public charge” concerns as Trump revives hard-line immigration rules
ISLAMABA: The United States will pause immigrant visa issuances for nationals of 75 countries, including Pakistan, from January 21, the State Department said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump presses ahead with a hard-line immigration agenda centered on financial self-sufficiency.
In an update published on its website, the State Department said it was conducting a comprehensive review of immigration policies to ensure that migrants from what it described as “high-risk” countries do not rely on public welfare in the United States or become a “public charge.”
“The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the department said.
The pause applies specifically to immigrant visas, which are issued to people seeking permanent residence in the United States. The department said applicants from affected countries may still submit applications and attend interviews, but no immigrant visas will be issued during the suspension.
According to the State Department, the affected countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Brazil, Thailand and dozens of others across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
The department said tourist and other non-immigrant visas are not affected, and that no previously issued immigrant visas have been revoked. Dual nationals applying with a valid passport from a country not on the list are exempt from the pause.
The State Department did not indicate how long the visa pause would remain in effect, saying it would continue until its review of screening and vetting procedures is completed.
The announcement underscores the breadth of the Trump administration’s renewed immigration crackdown. Since returning to office last year, Trump has revived and expanded enforcement of the “public charge” provision of US immigration law, which allows authorities to deny entry to applicants deemed likely to rely on public benefits.
During his previous term, Trump imposed sweeping travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy widely referred to as a “Muslim ban,” which was challenged in courts before a revised version was upheld by the Supreme Court and later rescinded under former president Joe Biden.
The visa freeze also comes amid an intensifying domestic enforcement push. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has expanded operations nationwide, drawing scrutiny over its tactics. Last week, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a US citizen, during a federal operation in Minneapolis, sparking protests and renewed debate over immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
