PAKISTAN COMMITS WIDESPREAD ABUSES AGAINST AFGHANS TO FORCE THEIR RETURN: HRW

Sat 02 December 2023:

Pakistani authorities have committed widespread abuses against Afghans to compel their return to Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Police and other officials have carried out mass detentions, seized property and livestock, and destroyed identity documents to expel thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. Since mid-September 2023, Pakistani authorities have forced out more than 375,000 people to Afghanistan, deporting 20,000 of them, HRW said in a statement.

“Pakistani officials have created a coercive environment for Afghans to force them to return to life-threatening conditions in Afghanistan,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately end the abuses and give Afghans facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection in Pakistan.”

HRW said the mistreatment is part of a campaign to compel Afghans to leave the country. It includes night raids during which police have beaten, threatened and detained Afghans. Police have also demanded bribes and confiscated jewelry, livestock, and other property, and bulldozed homes.

Pakistani authorities have also reportedly required Afghans awaiting resettlement in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries who have not been able to obtain or, in many cases, renew visas, to pay an exit fee of US$830, HRW said.

“Governments that promised to resettle at-risk Afghans should expedite these processes, while pressing Pakistan to live up to its human rights obligations,” Pearson said. “Countries should also step up their response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, now compounded by the influx of hundreds of thousands of people in need at the onset of winter.”

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