More than one million Afghans will return after Pakistan begins expelling foreigners with out papers

ISLAMABAD (AP) — About 1.3 million Afghans are anticipated to return to their nation of origin from Pakistan, the U.N. well being company warned, weeks after authorities started expelling foreigners residing within the nation illegally.

Thursday’s warning by the World Health Organization got here amid such expulsions, regardless of the onset of chilly climate and widespread criticism from worldwide and home human rights teams.

Since Nov. 1, police in Pakistan have been going door-to-door to test migrants’ documentation after a deadline for migrants with out papers to go away or face arrest. Most of these affected are Afghan nationals.

Pakistan hosts thousands and thousands of Afghans who fled their nation in the course of the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. The numbers swelled after the Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan in August 2021. Pakistan says the 1.4 million Afghans who’re registered as refugees needn’t fear, as their standing has been prolonged till December.

The crackdown has pressured about 340,000 Afghans in latest weeks to go away Pakistan after spending years, officers mentioned Friday. Many Afghans who’ve been in Pakistan for many years say they need to be given extra time, as they don’t have any residence in Afghanistan. Afghans say they have no idea how they are going to begin a brand new life from scratch.

An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been residing in Pakistan illegally when the crackdown was launched.

Afghanistan has arrange a fee in Kabul to cope with repatriations from Pakistan. Bilal Karimi, the spokesman for the refugee fee of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration, mentioned thus far 340,608 Afghans have returned.

Currently, the WHO is offering well being services to Afghans returning by means of the border crossings at Torkham in northwestern Pakistan and Chaman within the southwest.

In an announcement Thursday, the WHO mentioned the “sudden and increased flux of such returnees, along with other related factors, poses significant public health concerns.” It additionally warned of the danger of illness outbreaks and transmission of untamed poliovirus on the factors the place Afghans are coming into the nation.

The WHO additionally appealed for $10 million to supply well being providers focusing on 700,000 Afghan returnees.

“As we welcome back Afghans into the country, it is our collective obligation to public health to ensure that we have systems and resources in place to prevent, prepare for and respond to public health risks,” mentioned Dapeng Luo, WHO Representative in Afghanistan.

The newest improvement additionally comes a day after the U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk mentioned in an announcement he was alarmed by reviews that the arbitrary expulsion of Afghan nationals from Pakistan has been accompanied by abuse, together with ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detention, destruction of property and private belongings and extortion.

Some returning Afghans mentioned they had been harassed by Pakistani authorities asking for bribes. One such returnee, Zabihullah, who like many Afghans makes use of one title, mentioned he spent 28 years of his life in Pakistan.

He mentioned Pakistan police final week raided the house the place he lived within the northwest, and he was requested to go away the nation. “Police snatched my money. I had to sell my household things to return home along with my family,” he mentioned.

However, Pakistani officers usually say that Afghans returning residence are being handled pretty.

At a information briefing on Thursday, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioned the repatriation of all unlawful foreigners, together with Afghans, was happening “in a humane manner.” She mentioned Pakistan would take motion in opposition to people who could also be concerned in harassment of any particular person going through deportation.