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KABUL – A prominent global human rights advocate, Amnesty International, issued an urgent plea on Friday, pressing the Pakistani government to immediately halt the ongoing detainment and mass deportations of Afghan refugees. Livia Saccardi, Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns for South Asia at Amnesty International, underscored the gravity of the situation, expressing deep apprehension over the utilization of thousands of Afghan refugees as political bargaining chips.
Saccardi voiced grave concerns, warning that the imminent return of these individuals to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan posed severe threats to their lives and physical safety. Highlighting an intensified crackdown on human rights and the unfolding humanitarian crisis, she cautioned that the refugees face potential risks amidst the tumultuous landscape in their home country.
The actions taken by the Pakistani government have sparked international legal concerns, particularly regarding the principle of non-refoulement, which bars the forced repatriation of individuals to regions where they might encounter persecution or harm. Amnesty International has stressed this principle in light of the government’s directives for ‘unregistered foreign nationals’ to vacate Pakistan, resulting in the reported expulsion of over 170,000 Afghans who have long established their lives in the country. The lack of transparency, due process, and accountability in these recent detentions and deportations has raised significant worry within the international community.
Of paramount concern are the conditions in the detention facilities, where detainees are reportedly deprived of legal rights, including access to legal representation or communication with their families. The absence of publicly available information further compounds the anguish of families striving to locate their loved ones.
Amnesty International has fervently urged the Pakistani government to honor its commitments under international human rights law, ensuring the safety and well-being of Afghan refugees within its borders and an immediate cessation of deportations to avert further exacerbation of this dire humanitarian crisis. This pressing call comes in the wake of a Pakistani official’s disclosure that approximately 80,000 undocumented Afghan immigrants have already been deported from Pakistan’s Balochistan.
