Recently the Pakistan Government announced that all the illegal and undocumented migrants or refugees have to leave Pakistan by November 1st. They may leave voluntarily or will be expelled by force. The reason they cited for this drastic decision is that the Hundred thousands of Afghans living here are the cause of violent attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Allegation
The caretaker interior ministry Sarfaraz Bugti on Tuesday stated that 14 out of 24 suicide bombings are carried out by Afghan migrants.
Pakistan had to take this drastic step because the violence is increasing day by day with the majority of attacks taking place in the North Western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan. Both of these regions share a border with Afghanistan.
Both countries share a 2,640 km long border, which has high mountains, deep forests, and narrow rock passages so it is extremely difficult to control and maintain security at borders.
Image Source- BNN Breaking
The Pakistani government put allegation that the Afghan Taliban is giving safe space to fighters belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the TTP fighters are using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan.
The government stated that the Taliban group has launched more than 300 attacks in different provinces this year. The frequency and intensity of the attacks are increasing day by day. The latest attacks last month in Balochistan’s Mastung City and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu City led to the death of 60 people and wounded many.
Afghanistan Government wants Pakistan to Reconsider
Kabul rejected all such allegations and argued that Pakistan’s security has not been damaged by Afghans, Afghans have nothing to do with its security issues.
Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghan’s spokesperson on Wednesday stated that this is unacceptable and has asked the Pakistani government to re-considered its decision, he maintains that Afghan refugees are not at all involved in any of the suicide bombings, he posted this on Twitter
Adding to this he also asked the Government to tolerate them. Pakistan sent a high-level delegation to Kabul for negotiation and advised the Afghanistan Government to improve border control.
Image Source – WION
This is not the First Time
This is not the first time Pakistan is carrying out such an operation, it has done many such operations in past, though with limited success
According to the UNHCR report, 2016, more than 6 lakh Afghan immigrants registered or undocumented returned to their country
According to the Human Rights Watch Report,2017, the country carried out the world’s largest unlawful mass force return of refugees.
According to the UNHRC Report 2018, after 6 extensions to the deadline to leave the country, almost 50,000 immigrants were expelled.
The Timeline
According to the estimates, more than 95% of the refugees here are undocumented Afghan nationals. In 1979, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, more than 3 million Afghans crossed borders
Image Source- Dawn
In 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan after the September 11 attack, 1.3 million refugees entered North Western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan.
In 2021, when the Taliban government took over Kabul, more than 6 lakh Afghans have fled to Pakistan
The Government has started the task of identifying the undocumented refugees, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, regional police and federal investigation agencies are carrying out the deportation, and forces have been created to initiate the crackdown after November. After the deadline those Afghans who are not documented will be handed to Afghan officials.
