Afghanistan Peace CampaignContrary to international refugee principles, forced deportations and mistreatment by police have left refugees returning empty-handed.
The newly returned refugees say that despite having legal documents, Pakistani police mistreated them and extorted money from them.
Shamsuddin, a 40-year-old man, was forcibly deported through Torkham after living in Pakistan for two and a half decades. However, his family members and belongings remain in Pakistan. He told TOLOnews: “At midnight, police took me to the station, then transferred me to Haji Camp, and from there I was sent back through Torkham. They pulled me off a bus full of passengers, and the bus was left behind. My eldest son is three years old, and he is my oldest male child. My entire family remains there.”
Contrary to international refugee principles, forced deportations and mistreatment by police have left refugees returning empty-handed.
Recently, in the refugee camp at Torkham, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Charity Foundation distributed food packages to 1,250 newly returned families.
Askar Khan, deported from Pakistan, said: “We are in need of help; we are poor people and don’t even have food for the night. I am responsible for a family of eight and cannot provide for them. One of my sons has been imprisoned in Pakistan for 20 nights. The only thing I managed to do was to bring my children and grandchildren back through Torkham.”
Nazak Mir, another deportee, said: “We were forced into a very difficult situation and went through great hardship. We sold our household goods at half price; items worth 100,000 rupees were sold for only 20,000 Pakistani rupees.”
Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli, a representative of the charity foundation, said about their activities in the refugee camp: “Each family receives a food package that includes 50 kg of flour, 5 kg of rice, 5 kg of beans, 5.5 kg of sugar, and 5 liters of cooking oil.”
Local officials in Nangarhar say that nearly 2,000 families are being forcibly deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan through Torkham every day.
They also urged international relief organizations and aid agencies to continue assisting the returnees.
Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, head of the Umari refugee camp in Torkham, said: “We call on all organizations to assist Afghan refugees in this difficult situation, as the pace of returns has accelerated more than ever.”
Baz Mohammad Abdul Rahman, head of the Nangarhar Refugees Department, said: “Today, nearly 2,000 families arrived in 450 large vehicles, and this process is rapidly continuing. Most of them are Afghans holding PoR cards.”
According to the Nangarhar Refugees and Repatriation Department, in the past two weeks nearly 10,256 families, amounting to 71,792 individuals, have returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham crossing.