Pakistan’s top court hears petition to halt deportations of Afghans

ladicius, 5 months ago

Isn’t everyone in Afghanistan at risk, at a very very high risk? Not a joke but a real question.

livus, 5 months ago

@ladicius I think that's a fair question, because yes. Afghanistan is one of the biggest producers of refugees in the world and also has over 4 million internally displaced. It's not a safe country.

That said, people who have upset the Taliban in some way, or are perceived to have aided the US or its allies during its war and occupation (or be related to anyone who did), or are from certain ethnic or religious minorities, are earmarked for death.

Any refugee returning will also be homeless and an easy target. Some of these refugees have been in Pakistan for decades, like the guy at the end of this article.

livus, 5 months ago

From the article:

Pakistan said most Afghans have left voluntarily, a claim rejected by Kabul, which has called the Pakistani action “unilateral” and “humiliating”.

“Due to the urgency, as thousands of people are suffering on daily basis, I’ve requested the court to take up the case as early as next week,” Umar Ijaz Gilani, the lawyer representing the rights activists, said on Friday.

Thousands of undocumented Afghans have gone underground in Pakistan to avoid deportation, fearing for their lives if they return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan following a hasty and chaotic withdrawal of United States-led Western forces in 2021.

Pakistan has long hosted about 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled the country during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. In addition, more than half a million people fled Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power in August 2021 in the final weeks of a US and NATO pull-out.

Human rights activists, United Nations officials and others have denounced Pakistan’s policy and urged Islamabad to reconsider...