Over 6,500 Afghan refugees forcibly deported from Pakistan, Iran in single day: Taliban

Kabul, Nov 24 Over 6,500 Afghan refugees were forcibly deported from Iran and Pakistan in a single day, the local media quoted a top Taliban official as saying on Monday.

Sharing the High Commission for Addressing Migrants’ Issues report on X, Taliban Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat stated that 1,200 families, comprising 6,532 people, returned to Afghanistan on Sunday.

He stated that Afghan refugees entered Afghanistan through the Pul-i-Abresham in Nimroz, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Bahramcha in Helmand, Islam Qala crossing in Herat and the Torkham crossing in Nangarhar.

According to the Pajhwok News, Fitrat said that 1,492 Afghan refugee families comprising 7,695 people were taken to their respective home areas while 1,387 others were provided humanitarian assistance. He mentioned that telecommunication companies distributed 1,294 SIM cards to Afghan returnees.

Fitrat stated that 11,855 Afghan refugees were forcibly repatriated from Pakistan and Iran on Saturday.

Last week, around 400 Afghan nationals, including artists and their families have approached the Peshawar High Court, requesting the judge to issue orders for the government to halt their forced deportation to Afghanistan in accordance with the principle of non-refoulment, as they would be subjected to persecution in their country.

Afghan nationals filed a joint petition in the court, seeking directives for the government to allow their stay in Pakistan as refugees. The petitioners include Zakiya Dunya Ghazal and several other Afghan artists and their families, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

The petitioners have referred to an earlier judgment of the High Court announced on December 13, 2024, in cases of some other artists and transgender persons, requesting the court to announce a verdict in line with that judgment.

Pakistan's Federal Interior Ministry, Federal Secretary of Cabinet Division, Directors General of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Immigration and Passport and FIA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary and its Home Secretary have been named as respondents in the petition.

The petitioners contended that it was dangerous for artists and singers to live in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, as they had openly expressed opposition to activities like music concerts, etc. They claimed that they settled with their families in Peshawar after fleeing from Afghanistan. They stressed that Pakistan's forced repatriation policy was against the existing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agreements and Pakistan's own international commitments.

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