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Posts tagged as “Refugees”

Thousands of Afghan refugees expelled empty-handed from Pakistan, WFP reports

By Fidel Rahmati in The Khaama Press Online, December 28, 2023Daily concerns are escalating over the situation of Afghan refugees, as thousands have been deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan empty-handed, according to the World Food Program (WFP). A video released by WFP features an Afghan immigrant who was deported after 14 years in Pakistan. The unnamed individual lamented leaving with barely any possessions, expressing uncertainty about the future. In November, Pakistan’s interim government initiated the…

Muttaqi Discusses Bilateral Relations, Refugees with Iran FM:

By Mitra Majeedy in TOLOnews Online, Dec 25, 2023 at 10:11 PMThe acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, to discuss the diplomatic ties between the two countries, the situation and problems of Afghan prisoners and refugees, and the Islamic Emirate’s stance on the Palestine issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ deputy spokesperson, Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, said on X that Abdollahian praised the…

Ex-PM Imran Khan: 1.5 million Afghan refugees not a burden for Pakistan:

By Fidel Rahmati in The Khaama Press Online, December 8, 2023Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, currently in jail, criticized the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan on Thursday. “1.5 million refugees are not much of a burden for a nation of 250 million people. There is a fear of a permanent rift in the long-standing relationship between the two countries, considering the way Afghan refugees are being expelled,” Imran Khan wrote on his social media…

Iran enforces entry limits for Afghan refugees across 16 provinces

By Fidel Rahmati in The Khaama Press Online, December 3, 2023Iranian media have reported that the entry and residence of Afghan nationals have been prohibited in 16 provinces. According to the ISNA news agency, Hamza Suleimani, the Director-General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs in Kermanshah Province, has reported that undocumented immigrants in these provinces will be detained and deported. The Governor of Kermanshah has announced that since March 2023, eight phases of a plan…

Long wait for freedom: Afghan refugees in limbo in Pakistan

AFP report, Dec 1, 2023ISLAMABAD: Abdullah was a well-known public figure in Afghanistan, a journalist and university lecturer respected by his readers and students. In Pakistan, however, he is laying low—worried about being caught in a deportation dragnet and after two years still waiting to be evacuated to the West. He fled Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 on the advice of US officials and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), fearing retribution…

Afghan Refugees Complain of Mistreatment by Pakistani Soldiers:

Report in TOLOnews Online, Nov 28, 2023 at 1:08 PMRefugees who went to Balkh province after being deported from Pakistan said that some of their family members are still imprisoned in Pakistan. They complained about the bad treatment of Pakistani soldiers and said that when they returned, their property was stolen in Pakistan. “There were two men in the house, they took one, and then they took our money; after a lot of harassment, we…

Thousands of refugees still await relocation to US, UK

By Anwar Iqbal in Dawn, November 28th, 2023WASHINGTON: More than 12,000 Afghan refugees have resettled in the United States and Britain, while thousands more are still waiting in Pakistan for a final approval for relocation, diplomatic sources have told Dawn. The sources reveal that both the US and the UK are actively considering the resettlement of Afghan nationals, providing a glimmer of hope amid the ongoing crisis. The US has so far identified 25,351 Afghan…

Pakistan’s Mass Expulsion Turns Past Good Will Into ‘Hostility’: Haqqani

By Naveed Samadi in TOLOnews Online, Nov 27, 2023 at 9:21 PMThe acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, said that Pakistan—as one of the hosting countries of Afghan refugees—has turned all its good actions regarding the Afghan refugees over the past decades, into hostility. Speaking at a gathering in Ghazni where he was on a visit, Haqqani said that the deportation of the Afghan refugees is against all national and international laws. “The current decision…

UNHCR Urges Pakistan to Stop Deporting Afghan Refugees:

Report in TOLOnews Online, Nov 23, 2023 at 9:09 PMThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on Pakistan to stop the deportation of Afghan refugees, saying they face harsh winter conditions and an existing humanitarian crisis. “UNHCR is calling upon the government of Pakistan to halt these mass numbers of returns during this harsh season of winter because the cold in Afghanistan is really deadly and it can take lives,” the agency’s regional spokesman, Babar…

UNHCR Urges Pakistan to Stop Deporting Afghan Refugees:

Report in TOLOnews Online, Nov 23, 2023 at 9:09 PMThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on Pakistan to stop the deportation of Afghan refugees, saying they face harsh winter conditions and an existing humanitarian crisis. “UNHCR is calling upon the government of Pakistan to halt these mass numbers of returns during this harsh season of winter because the cold in Afghanistan is really deadly and it can take lives,” the agency’s regional spokesman, Babar…

UNHCR raises alarm over Afghans’ exit order

by Amin Ahmed in Dawn, November 22th, 2023ISLAMABAD: The UN Refugee Agency, has rai­sed concerns over Pakis­t­an’s announcement for undocumented foreigners to leave, as the orders have adversely affected Afghan nationals including registered refugees and others with valid documents. UNHCR Represen­tat­ive in Pakistan Philippa Candler told a press briefing at UN European headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday that mass arrivals back to Afghanistan were adding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, as winter temperatures in some…