(Photo by United Nations via Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED)
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Effective November 1, 2023, the Pakistani government will be repatriating all residents without proper legal status. This repatriation plan means that undocumented residents will now be subject to arrest and deportation, which the government cites as the sake of national security and stability.
International organizations immediately denounced a crackdown on Afghan residents, who represent the majority of the hosted undocumented migrants over the years. More than 600,000 Afghan people fled after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. The government’s decision is expected to affect an estimated total of 1.7 million Afghans, forcing them to return to the state they fled or left for better prospects. The mass exodus particularly exposes the population to human rights abuse, especially vulnerable groups such as women and girls.
According to the United Nations (UN), 60,000 Afghans “voluntarily” left before the deadline, fearing the governmental threat of forcible transfers. Yet, the Pakistani government has now started a witch hunt to deport the remaining hundreds of thousands of Afghans. The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan tried to accommodate this influx of people but found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of migrants. The UN and other NGOs called to halt deportations, offering support to both the Taliban and the Pakistani government. This situation adds to the ongoing humanitarian crises in Afghanistan.
Afghan Migrants in a Game of Chess
The Pakistani government’s decision comes in the context of tense relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban authorities, particularly concerning the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). The TTP, an Islamist armed organization banned from Pakistan, operates from Afghanistan with a different command structure and conducts operations independently from the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has long requested the Afghan Taliban to crack down on TTP and enhance border security. After the 2021 takeover in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban helped to negotiate a ceasefire between Pakistan and the TTP that lasted only a few months before attacks resumed.
According to the Pakistani Prime Minister, terrorist attacks from TTP have significantly increased since the takeover. In 2023, “227 Pakistanis were killed and 497 were injured in 22 suicide attacks, “mostly claimed by the TTP.” In early September, two suicide bombings targeting mosques resulted in at least 57 deaths. Once again, Pakistan blamed the Afghan Taliban for ignoring deadly attacks against the Pakistani security forces and civilians along the 2,600-kilometer shared border.
Hence, it seems that the recent mass deportations are an effort by Pakistan to exert pressure on the Afghan Taliban authorities, aiming for the disarmament of the TTP. However, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured it was not the case.
Discriminatory and Violent Treatment of Afghan Residents
Human Rights Watch pointed out that Pakistan already “coerced hundreds of thousands of registered Afghan refugees into returning to Afghanistan” in 2016. Since then, there have been documented cases of widespread police abuse that involved intimidation, discrimination and unlawful use of force.
NGOs have been condemning the discriminatory practices of security forces against Afghans for months, and the governmental decision only made the situation worse. Police raids started a day before the November 1 deadline to carry out a mass deportation plan. The government also encouraged Pakistanis to report any undocumented residents through a hotline. Security forces also made financial threats against people who would host undocumented residents. Camps had already been established along the border to detain people awaiting deportation.
Testimonies of harassment against Afghan residents, regardless of their status, started to appear, ranging from police raids to the destruction of legal documents and arbitrary arrests. This violent and discriminatory treatment has led many legal Afghan residents to “leave the country” as well. Some residents had never visited Afghanistan; others had been living in Pakistan for decades without being asked for proof of documentation. It suggests a challenging resettlement without property or work in a stranger country, especially after the Taliban takeover.
10,000 people are crossing the border every day, leaving the Taliban authorities unable to manage such a large flow. The Afghan authorities have established temporary shelters along the border, working with international organizations to issue national identity cards promptly for those deported to Afghanistan.
An Unfortunate Decision in a Dangerous Period
The unprecedented decision raises a question: can Pakistan decide to send back undocumented residents to a country where they face risks of persecution or serious harm, including human rights violations or armed conflict? The customary principle of non-refoulement in international refugee law notes that such measures are forbidden. This principle means ensuring the “right to escape violence” under international law; however, the world is currently witnessing an “erosion of refugee protection” in this regard.
The mass exodus back to Afghanistan comes at a dangerous period amidst an “economic and humanitarian crisis.” As winter approaches, people crossing the border and waiting for registration will have to endure a drop in the temperature and heavy rain in temporary shelters. Besides, Afghanistan just emerged from a series of magnitude-6 earthquakes, which affected the western part of the country in early October. The lack of proper equipment in hospitals and funds for aid organizations left the affected population in a dire situation, with no shelter or proper healthcare.
The Taliban authorities have passed a “series of religious decrees” infringing the human rights of several population groups. In particular, women and girls have been erased from every sphere of life, with a ban on secondary education and specific jobs, travel restrictions, and dress codes. It is also difficult for them to access health care and impossible to take part in any political decision, while those who stand against these restrictions are arrested and tortured. All of this led the UN to declare that the situation in Afghanistan could amount to a gender apartheid.
Similarly, ethnic and religious minorities, human rights defenders, journalists and artists have been restricted from their freedom of speech and discriminated against. Although the Taliban authorities declared that Afghans, who left over political beliefs, could return safely to Afghanistan, it is very unlikely that they will keep their promise.
The UN has offered support to the Pakistani government to establish a screening mechanism for Afghan residents living in the country, allowing assessment of who is at particular risk of abuse if deported back to Afghanistan. Women and girls, ethnic and religious marginalized individuals, journalists, and artists, among others at risk, may then receive international protection.
How to Move the Situation Forward
On November 2, the Pakistani government announced an exemption from deportations for undocumented residents who were “awaiting resettlement” in Western countries, including the United States. Yet, resettlement implies lengthy procedures, which usually take up to 24 months. These processes should be fast-tracked to mitigate the risk of mistreatment and discrimination in Pakistan in the meantime. Besides, this exemption only applies to a small percentage of people at risk of deportation.
Some Pakistanis are trying to discreetly help Afghan people by offering shelter and food, but the situation is hardly sustainable. Others have decided to speak up: a petition was sent to the Pakistani Supreme Court asking to halt the deportation program. The document also claimed that this mass deportation measure could be a “strategic decision” regarding the upcoming national elections of February 2024. Yet, the Supreme Court dismissed this petition, arguing that the claim did not meet all the admissibility requirements.
Several conflicts have dominated global news, overshadowing this crisis. However, it also deserves to be prioritized by global news outlets, considering the crisis in Pakistan adds up to the ongoing crises in Afghanistan. Governments and international organizations with influence should continue to pressure Pakistan to halt the repatriation plan. If that fails, an agreement between Islamabad and Kabul on a gradual repatriation plan would enable international and local aid organizations to implement a careful screening of deportees who could receive international protection and organized humanitarian aid.
Refugee Protection for Regional Stability
In essence, the mass exodus of Afghans could potentially turn into a ticking bomb scenario. The deportees will face challenges resettling in Afghanistan, which is currently going through a major economic crisis. Some of them may turn to criminality and opposition to the Taliban regime, which appears unable to manage this large flow of migrants — or against Pakistan — whose government forcibly transferred them. By trying to contain the violence of the TTP with this deportation policy, Pakistan may have just encouraged more people to join its ranks, undermining regional stability.
As the economic, security and humanitarian crises unfold in Afghanistan, people may choose to leave the country again, trying new migration trails through other countries, including Iran and Turkey. The protection of refugees’ rights is at risk — more than ever.
Edited by Light Naing and Bethlehem Samson
