On Tuesday, human rights officials from the United Nations urged Pakistan to hold back on deporting Afghan citizens after Islamabad issued an order requiring all of the unlawful immigrants which comprise of 1.73 million citizens of Afghanistan to vacate the country immediately.
Those “undocumented” alien nationals or refugees must depart from the country by 1 November or risk being deported to their origin countries, according to a recent announcement by the Pakistan government, which has long sheltered millions of refugees from Afghanistan. Many of them fled to Pakistan in search of safety and refuge owing to grave violations of human rights and a humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, would be particularly impacted by these plans.
Around 1.3 million Afghans are registered as refugees at present and another 880,000 have lawful authorization to reside in Pakistan, as per UN statistics.
Since the invasion of Soviets in Kabul in 1979, Pakistan has experienced the highest migration of Afghan citizens. A request for a response to the experts’ claim was not immediately answered by the diplomatic mission of Pakistan to the United Nations situated in Geneva. This month, Sarfraz Bugti, Pakistan’s interior minister, stated that despite there being 4.4 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, 1.73 million Afghan citizens did not have the proper documentation to be there.
The experts were concerned that people of Afghan descent were susceptible to suffering irreversible harm, including grave human rights breaches and abuses in their native country. They additionally emphasized that the nations’ obligations for upholding the principle with respect to non-refoulement under human rights and customary law at an international level are not exempted by their lack of national asylum legislation. The International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, among which Pakistan holds the status of the State Party, expressly forbids refoulement or the forceful return of refugees to a country where they are susceptible to persecution. Special rapporteurs’ experts include Reem Alsalem, for assault against young girls and women, Richard Bennett, for the rights of people in Afghanistan, and Felipe Gonzalez Morales, for migrants’ human rights.
References:
- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/un-experts-urge-pakistan-to-stop-planned-mass-deportation-of-afghans/3023312
- https://amu.tv/69442/
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-special-rapporteurs-urge-pakistan-stop-planned-mass-deportation-afghans
- https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/10/un-calls-upon-pakistan-to-stop-planned-mass-deportation-of-afghan-nationals/
- https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142477
Written by: Divyani Newar of 5th Semester of NEF Law College, an intern under Legal Vidhiya
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