ISLAMABAD: A leading international rights organization urged Pakistan on Wednesday not to “coerce” Afghan refugees into returning to their country, saying many risked persecution and would face dire economic conditions.
The appeal came as the government directed all Afghans without residence documents, along with Afghan Citizen Card holders, to leave by the March 31 deadline.
The interior ministry’s announcement earlier this month formed part of a broader repatriation drive targeting foreign nationals that began in 2023, with more than 800,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since. The campaign against “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghans, was launched following a surge in militant violence from armed groups the government said had found sanctuary in neighboring Afghanistan.
Officials in Islamabad have maintained that many Afghan nationals in Pakistan were involved in attacks on civilians and security forces while blaming the interim Taliban administration for “facilitating” cross-border attacks. Afghan authorities in Kabul, however, have denied the allegations.
“Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said as the rights organization released a report on the situation of those repatriated so far.
“The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan should prevent any reprisals against returning Afghans and reverse their abusive policies against women and girls,” she added.
HRW accused Pakistani police of raiding the houses of Afghan refugees, beating and arbitrarily detaining people, and confiscating their refugee documents, including residence permits.
Based on its interviews with Afghans who recently returned to their country, it said Pakistani authorities had demanded bribes to allow them to stay in Pakistan, adding that most Afghan nationals chose to return due to fear of detention in Pakistani cities.
Officials in Islamabad have dismissed such allegations in the past, saying they have carried out the repatriation process in a humane way.
The international rights organization also warned that the situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, with women and girls banned from post-primary education, while rights defenders, journalists, and former government personnel remain at particular risk.
“All of those returning struggle to survive amid Afghanistan’s soaring unemployment, broken health care system, and dwindling foreign assistance,” it added.
International rights group asks Pakistan to stop ‘coercing’ Afghan refugees into return
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International rights group asks Pakistan to stop ‘coercing’ Afghan refugees into return
- Human Rights Watch urges authorities in Kabul to prevent reprisals against returning Afghan nationals
- It says Afghans returning to their country have been dealing with unemployment, broken health care system
Pakistan Navy escorting ships on country’s own trade routes, not Strait of Hormuz— official
- Pakistan’s military announced this week that navy ships were escorting merchant vessels mid tensions in Strait of Hormuz
- Navy operation limited to merchant vessels traveling on the Karachi–Gulf and Karachi–Red Sea trade routes, clarifies official
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s navy is escorting merchant vessels along its own maritime routes and not on the Strait of Hormuz, a security official confirmed on Wednesday, amid a global energy crisis triggered by the key passageway’s closure.
Pakistani military’s media wing announced on Monday it had launched ‘Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr’ in which the country’s navy ships were escorting merchant vessels “to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication.”
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. The US-Israeli war against Iran has halted tanker traffic on the key route. Iran has attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened any ships that try to pass through it.
A Pakistani security official stressed that the navy’s Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr is focused only on Pakistan’s own sea lines of communication, particularly the routes linking Karachi with the Gulf region and the Red Sea.
“Pakistan Navy is conducting escort operations for Pakistani vessels operating along the Karachi–Gulf and Karachi–Red Sea Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs),” the official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media .
“These operations should not be misconstrued as escorting ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The military announced on Monday that the navy is conducting the operation to escort merchant vessels in close coordination with the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
“With approximately 90 percent of Pakistan’s trade conducted via sea, the operation aims to ensure that vital sea routes remain safe, secure, and uninterrupted,” the military’s media wing said in its earlier statement.
Officials say the operation is intended to protect Pakistan’s commercial shipping and energy supplies while maintaining safe passage on critical maritime routes linking the country to global markets.
Pakistan has been hit hard by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the government forced to hike the price of petrol and diesel by Rs55 per liter on Friday.
Pakistan imports most of its fuel from the Gulf region. The sharp rise in global oil prices has forced Islamabad to evaluate its fuel stocks and take tough measures to conserve petroleum products as the Gulf war intensifies.
