Pakistan has intensified its crackdown against Afghan refugees amid signs of further deteriorating relations between the two countries in the aftermath of Torkham border skirmishes.
Pakistan, which neighbors Afghanistan, hosts about 1.5 million registered and about one million undocumented Afghans refugees.
Although Pakistan says it wants an early repatriation of Afghan refugees from that country, Islamabad denies that it intends to forcefully evict them. Afghan officials have, however, cast doubts over the Pakistani intentions.
They point out that 2,000 refugees were detained in a single day in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday. Earlier this week, Pakistan set 30 June as the deadline for Afghan refugees to return to their home country.
The Afghan ministry of refugees and repatriations has said that discussions were underway with Pakistan over the issue.
Pakistan stepped up pressure on Afghan refugees earlier this month in the wake of growing border tensions between the two countries at Torkham crossing.
“The ministry is attempting to settle the problem by helping to extend the validity of migrants cards of the refugees as well as the registration of the illegal migrants. Our discussions with Pakistan are ongoing,” the head of media relations department of the ministry, Hafiz Ahmad Miakhail, said.
Critics say the Pakistan government has been exploiting the issue of refugees whenever the ties between Kabul and Islamabad become strained.
Pakistan has set the end of 2017 as the deadline for Afghan refugees who live there with legal documents to leave the country.
“Unfortunately Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions, not only in Pakistan but in a lot of countries, do not engage the issue of refugees,” MP Shah Gul Rezayee said.
The refugee issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan, coincides the situation in Iran where Afghan refugees are facing similar conditions where the human rights of the refugees are not valued by the Iranian government.
“Whenever the Afghan government is engaged in a problem with Pakistan, Pakistan starts pressurizing Afghanistan from different angles, including the exploitation of refugees, business and visits of Afghans to that country,” civil society activist Ghorzang Sial said.
Despite diplomatic tensions, Afghan refugees are reluctant to return to their home country. They remain concerned about the fragile security situation and lack of jobs in their country.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/26024-pakistan-steps-up-crackdown-on-afghan-refugees
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