According to military experts, this report of the US is not free from the country’s political views on Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate rejects the US State Department’s 2022 annual terrorism report about the activity of al-Qaeda and Daesh elements in Afghanistan, which was released by the US State Department.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told TOLOnews that in the two years of the rule of the Islamic Emirate, no threat has been made to any country from Afghanistan.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has seriously started its fight against any phenomenon that incites insecurity in Afghanistan and has stood up effectively. Therefore, Afghanistan is safe. Expressing concerns about Afghanistan’s soil is not true, we reject it. And all countries should recognize Afghanistan as a safe area,” Mujahid said.
On November 30, the US State Department released a report dated April 2023 that focused on terrorism in 2022 and which claimed that Al-Qaeda, Daesh and other regional terrorist groups remained active in Afghanistan.
“In Afghanistan, al-Qa’ida elements, ISIS, and regionally focused terrorist groups remained active in the country. ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) continued to conduct terrorist attacks against Afghan civilians, particularly members of the Shia community, and the Taliban. In 2022, ISIS-K conducted cross-border attacks in Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and maintained ambitions to attack the West. Al-Qa’ida and its affiliates, particularly al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent, also remained intent — but lacked the capability — to directly attack the United States from Afghanistan,” the report reads.
The lack of clarity in the ability of the Islamic Emirate to prevent the activities of terrorist groups has also been criticized in the report.
“While the Taliban committed to preventing terrorist groups from using Afghanistan to conduct attacks against the United States and its allies, its ability to prevent al-Qa’ida elements, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and ISIS-K from mounting external operations remained unclear,” the report added.
According to military experts, this report of the US is not free from the country’s political views on Afghanistan.
“The reports of the US State Department, which are published annually and quarterly, are not blind to political positions of the US government,” Asadullah Nadim, a military expert, told TOLOnews.
This comes as Pakistan is claiming that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist groups have a safe haven in Afghanistan — claims which have always been denied by the Islamic Emirate.
Kabul Rejects US Report on Al-Qaeda, Daesh in Afghanistan
Karimi also pledged that the Afghan soil will not be used against any country.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on X that Bilal Karimi presented his credentials to the Director-General of the Protocol Department of the Foreign Ministry of China, Hong Lei, as the Islamic Emirate’s ambassador in Beijing.
According to Balkhi, Karimi arrived in Beijing on November 24 and was welcomed by the Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, and acting diplomats of the Afghanistan embassy in China.
A MoFA spokesman quoted Karimi during his meeting with Lei as saying that it is time for the improvement of relations between China and Afghanistan.
Karimi also pledged that the Afghan soil will not be used against any country.
According to Balkhi, the Director-General of the Protocol Department of the Foreign Ministry of China said that China does not intend to interfere in the internal affairs of any country and that it wants to help improve Afghanistan’s economy and infrastructure through the Belt and Road initiative.
In September, China became the first country to formally name a new ambassador to Afghanistan since the Islamic Emirate takeover, after its envoy presented credentials at a ceremony in Kabul.
Karimi Presents Credentials in Beijing as Ambassador to China
Andisha added that from August 2021 until now, thousands of specialists, people with knowledge and skills, are leaving Afghanistan.
The permanent representative of Afghanistan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, at the 114th conference of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) expressed concern about the worsening of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Andisha said in this meeting that the earthquakes in Herat and the forced return of Afghan immigrants are major factors in the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan.
“More than half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance and internal displacement including due to natural disasters, climate changes — and the forced displacement continues. Most recently the earthquake in Herat province brought significant devastation and loss. The sluggish response to the devastating earthquake in Herat demonstrated the depth of vulnerability, lack of capacity of the Taliban and the gap in international response. However we appreciate IOM’s assistance providing relief to the affected communities,” Andisha said.
Andisha added that from August 2021 until now, thousands of specialists, people with knowledge and skills, are leaving Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said that the Islamic Emirate is trying to handle the situation of immigrants in a better way.
“For those who are experts and have knowledge, or can do something for the country, good opportunities will be provided and currently we are working in various sectors of the country’s development,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.
“We request the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Emirate to have a meeting as soon as possible with the officials and offices that are active in refugee affairs in Afghanistan,” said Alireza Karimi, immigration rights analyst.
The concerns of the permanent representative of Afghanistan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva about the situation of deported immigrants while Afghan immigrants were expressed while in Turkey, Pakistan and Iran are facing mistreatment and a large number of them return to the country unwillingly every day.
Earthquake and Deportation of Refugees Worsened Humanitarian Situation
Zabiullah Mujahid, said that there has been a breakthrough in addressing the problems of the Afghan embassy in India.
The Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi was reopened by the two top Consuls of Afghanistan in India on Thursday.
The acting Consul General of Afghanistan in Mumbai, Sayed Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, said in a video that he and the Consul General of Afghanistan in Hyderabad, Zakia Wardak, have taken the responsibility for the consulate services of Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi based on requests of the Indian government.
“After we arrived at the Ministry of External Affairs [of India], they said that they had promised two months ago that the embassy of Afghanistan in New Delhi would not be closed. They [Indian officials] asked us to take charge of consulate services of the embassy,” Ibrahimkhail said.
Earlier, the Afghan embassy announced in a statement the permanent closing of its diplomatic mission in New Delhi, effective Nov 23, owing to “persistent challenges from the Indian government.”
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that there has been a breakthrough in addressing the problems of the Afghan embassy in India.
“There has been some breakthroughs but due to the political circumstances it is not good to announce now but some steps will be made and then the Foreign Ministry will announce it,” Mujahid said.
Some former Afghan diplomats said that the reopening of the embassy will play an effective role in addressing problems of Afghans in India.
“There should be a relationship so that India will not be away from regional and Afghanistan issues. This also benefits Afghanistan, Afghan refugees and the Afghan traders,” said Aziz Maarij, a former diplomat.
“The Indians are trying to continue their presence in Afghanistan and extend their engagement with the Taliban,” said Noorullah Raghi, a former diplomat.
Earlier, the deputy Foreign Minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, also stressed that the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad cities of India are active.
They emphasized that during the last two years, access to education, work and many parts of public life, even going to parks, has been limited.
The UN Rapporteur for Afghanistan’s human rights situation and Chargee d’affaires of the EU for Afghanistan have expressed concerns about the humanitarian situation and the situation of women in the country.
They emphasized that during the last two years, access to education, work and many parts of public life, even going to parks, has been limited.
In a program arranged by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett said that in the past two years, women’s rights have been limited in the fields of education and work.
But the Islamic Emirate emphasized that women’s rights are currently secure.
“The de facto authorities tell me ‘listen, we know very well nobody is going to channel money through us, but we really don’t want 80 percent of the money that you are putting in, I don’t know, Herat reconstruction, wherever, (to go) through all layers of payments, and double payments, triple payments…’, and I can relate to that …” said Raffaella Iodice, the EU Chargée d’Affaires to Afghanistan.
“The situation for women and girls has worsened drastically over the past two years in a step by step manner. Access to education, work, many other areas of public life, even to parks and public baths, has been restricted,” said Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan.
“The decision of the UN to stay and deliver was a correct decision, it is essential to stand with the women and girls of this country, not to abandon them, but also to ensure that the people of Afghanistan who have been suffering from four decades of hardship could continue to have access to the basic services and not suffer because of a government that they have not elected,” said Stephen Rodriques, the UNDP country director in Afghanistan.
The secretary of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan has also pledged that they will continue to help solve the challenges of Afghan citizens.
“From the Islamic Emirate’s point of view there is no shortage or deficiency in granting the rights of individuals in the society from the Shariah point of view, some requests that have not yet been completed require some work that must be done to reach the stages that are the subject of women’s education and work,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.
After the Islamic Emirate took over Afghanistan, women’s rights have been among the issues over which the Islamic Emirate and the international community have disagreed.
UN, EU Participates in Swedish Committee for Afghanistan Meeting
A shut embassy and school and growing engagement with the Taliban point to New Delhi’s changing approach to Kabul, say analysts.
On November 24, more than two years after Taliban fighters drove into Kabul to reclaim control over Afghanistan, a key, lasting outpost of the government they had overthrown shut down 1,000km (600 miles) away, in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Afghanistan’s diplomatic mission in India, led by former ambassador Farid Mamundzay, announced the permanent closure of its embassy in New Delhi, citing “pressure from both the Taliban and the Indian government to relinquish control”.
The shutdown had been in the works. Nearly two months earlier, Mamundzay had said the embassy would have to stop diplomatic services because of a “lack of support” from India, a reduction in personnel and resources, and the mission’s inability to meet the expectations of an estimated 32,000 Afghan nationals in the country.
The suggestions of Indian antipathy – which New Delhi has denied – towards the embassy underscore a shift in the image that the world’s largest democracy has held among large sections of Afghans, say analysts.
“It is disheartening to acknowledge that this development is not conducive to the strength and vitality of our ties, which have stood the test of time,” Mamundzay told Al Jazeera.
When the Taliban first took power in Kabul in 1996, India swiftly shut down its embassy there and shunned all diplomatic ties with the ultra-conservative group, with its hardline interpretations of Afghan customs and Islamic rules. When the Taliban were removed following the United States-led invasion in 2001, India was among the first countries to reopen its mission and recognise the new state that emerged.
Over the two decades that followed, India was one of the largest suppliers of aid and assistance to democratic Afghan governments. When the US was negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban, India was publicly opposed to the arrangement – worried about the return of a group whose allies had repeatedly targeted the Indian embassy in Kabul and the country’s consulates elsewhere in Afghanistan. The worst of those attacks, the 2008 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, killed 58 people.
Yet, in June 2022, less than a year after the Taliban returned to power, India reopened its embassy in Kabul, sending a team of “technical experts” to run the mission. New Delhi has engaged in conversations with the Taliban, even though it does not formally recognise the movement as the government of Afghanistan.
So, is India cosying up to the Taliban? What does it hope to gain from a softer equation with the group? How does India’s tense relationship with Pakistan fit into the picture? And what are the implications of this shift in New Delhi’s approach?
The short answer: While India has not formally launched diplomatic ties with the Taliban, it has also avoided alienating the group since its return to power, in a bid to retain its presence in Afghanistan, analysts have said. A deterioration in ties between the Taliban and Pakistan has helped India’s gambit. But New Delhi risks losing goodwill among a generation of Afghans that had viewed it as a supporter of education, democracy and human rights.
The soft power years
As Afghanistan suffered under war and turmoil from the 1980s, India became a home away from home for many Afghans. Former President Hamid Karzai went to university in India. The family of Abdullah Abdullah, who effectively shared power with Ghani since 2014, has lived in India for years.
From 1996, India backed the Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban resistance force led by Ahmad Shah Massoud, which counted Abdullah as a leading member.
After the collapse of the first Taliban regime, India contributed close to $3bn in aid between 2001 and 2021 for projects in Afghanistan. It constructed Afghanistan’s new parliament building, highways, power stations and dams — but a significant fraction of its aid was also spent on education and skills development, all of which helped amplify India’s soft power in the country.
Yet as the Taliban’s challenges to the Afghan government grew in the period before August 2021, India’s attitude started to change, said Raghav Sharma, director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at OP Jindal Global University in Sonipat, an hour outside New Delhi.
“In the last years of the republic, there was a lot of uncertainty in which way the political will would sway. What was certain though was that the Taliban were going to be rehabilitated; in what form or what positions was unclear,” he said, adding that India started reducing its engagement with Ghani’s government. “It also seemed that the Americans cranked up pressure on India to make its presence less visible to assuage concerns of Pakistan.”
India and archrival Pakistan have long jostled for greater influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s traditionally close ties with the Taliban meant the group’s re-emergence as a leading player in the country would have spooked India, said Afghan political ethnographer Orzala Nemat.
“It is likely the Taliban takeover may have raised concerns that it would lead to higher Pakistani influence in the country that could potentially jeopardise the Indian presence and interest,” she said.
“The assumptions were valid to an extent because there is evidence that the Pakistani establishment influence strong control over the Taliban.”
Yet even as India tried to distance itself from the Ghani government, what no one had foreseen, Sharma pointed out, was just how dominant the Taliban’s return would be. The group, he said, effectively carried out a “total eclipse of the landscape”.
It was an eclipse that would fundamentally change India’s approach to Afghans as well as to Afghanistan, say experts.
‘What is the message?’
For close to 30 years, the warren-like lanes of the southeast Delhi neighbourhood of Bhogal have embraced a snapshot of the future many Afghans in the Indian capital have dreamed of.
With 300 students from grades 1 to 12, the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan School was the only school in the city offering education in Pashto, Dari and Arabic, in addition to English. Girls and boys mingled in mixed-gender classrooms, learning maths, physics and geography, imagining careers for themselves and hoping for a better tomorrow for Afghanistan.
It was funded by the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, which in turn received financial support from the government of India.
But earlier this year, the school’s funding dried up – the embassy claims the Indian government stopped its support.
The school initially relocated to a cramped eight-room apartment, also in Bhogal, to reduce rental expenses. It wasn’t enough. In October, the school shut down.
“It is the only Afghan school that Afghan girls had access to. This is going to create barriers for Afghans to access education in India,” Sharma said. Because India doesn’t have an official refugee policy, many schools don’t accept refugee students. “So what is the message the government is sending out to these communities?” Sharma questioned.
Thousands of Afghan students have traditionally studied in Indian universities, many receiving Indian government scholarships. But after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, India cancelled all existing Afghan visas, including for students who have since struggled to return to India to continue their education.
“The Indian government has not been the most cooperative, refusing to issue visas, not even for medical cases,” Sharma said.
The shadow of religious discrimination has also crept into India’s handling of Afghan visa requests. While Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan have received some support in moving to India, the door has largely been closed for Muslim Afghans, at a time when India is ruled by the Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic battle has been brewing. While the Taliban has been able to gain access and control of some of the Afghan missions globally, the embassy in India was among the many that continued to operate under the leadership of diplomats appointed by the previous government, which — unlike the Taliban — was recognised internationally.
In the absence of a functioning government, some of these embassies ran independently, often supported through fees collected from consular services.
After the Afghan embassy in New Delhi announced its closure, Zakia Wardak and Sayed Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, the Afghan counsel generals in Mumbai and Hyderabad, pushed back against the ambassador, insisting that they were still in “constant touch with the [Indian] Ministry of External Affairs … and trying to address the current difficult situation”.
But Mamundzay’s embassy was equally biting in its statement: “There are no diplomats from the Afghan Republic remaining in India … The only individuals present in India are diplomats affiliated with the Taliban.”
Behind the change
The charge that India is now colluding with the Taliban is in many ways an inversion of what New Delhi accused Pakistan of, for close to three decades.
The Haqqani faction of the Taliban, in particular, was viewed by Indian agencies as a proxy for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and blamed for deadly attacks on Indian diplomatic missions and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.
Yet relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have nosedived since the group returned to power, and especially in recent months. Islamabad has blamed Kabul for not doing enough to stop armed fighters from crossing over and carrying out devastating attacks in Pakistan that have killed dozens.
In parallel, however, India has been quietly reaching out to the Taliban. For years, India would refuse to send diplomats formally even to multilateral meetings on Afghanistan that had Taliban representatives. That changed first. Then, days after the Taliban took over in Kabul, India’s ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, met the Taliban’s Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai in Doha.
In June 2022, Indian diplomats met Taliban officials in Kabul. And India has been sending large volumes of wheat to Afghanistan in coordination with the Taliban government, to help ease the hunger crisis in that country.
The closure of the Afghan mission in Delhi points to the broader changes in India’s policy on Afghanistan, said Mamundzay.
“It represents more than just the end of a diplomatic mission. It signifies a challenging juncture in the relationship between our nations,” the diplomat told Al Jazeera.
‘Lost goodwill’
The absence of a working embassy in New Delhi has consequences beyond the symbolism, said Nemat.
“The resulting damage is quite massive on the Afghan population in general,” she said. “If diplomatic relationships collapse, it affects commercial activity, people seeking medical treatments, students, particularly women, seeking higher education opportunities – there are thousands of youth who would want to travel to India to get safe access to education.
“This is no longer possible.”
At the heart of India’s stance, said Sharma, is a desire to not offend the Taliban’s sensibilities.
“[India has] not issued a single statement on women being denied education in Afghanistan, or in support of Matiullah Wesa, who studied in India, and regarded it as his home,” he said, referring to the Afghan girls’ education activist who was jailed by the Taliban for seven months before he was released in October.
“And that is largely because they want to protect their diplomatic mission in Kabul, have eyes and ears on the ground in Afghanistan. But they also want to make sure that groups that are inimical to India’s interest do not have a free run in Afghanistan,” Sharma explained.
Yet, India has not fully embraced the Taliban either, refusing, so far, to recognise the group’s rule in Kabul, and steering clear of sending an ambassador to Afghanistan.
The Taliban, Nemat said, “don’t even represent the entire population, having deprived women of basic rights”.
“It is understandable if these factors play a part in India’s hesitance to build relations with them,” she said.
Nevertheless, “India has already lost a lot of goodwill in the way it handled the aftermath of the collapse of the republic,” Sharma said.
Mamundzay agrees, adding that the Indian government has been reluctant to entertain any critical feedback on its policies.
“While there has been a lot of rhetoric on solidarity with the Afghan people, it doesn’t quite square off with the reality on the ground,” he said, adding that he was observing a widespread and increasing disappointment among Afghans towards India.
That could come back to bite India, Mamundzay cautioned.
“Tomorrow if the groups India has shunned get back into positions of influence [in Afghanistan], it wouldn’t do anything for Indian interests,” he said. “India has sent the message that political expediency and realpolitik trump everything else.”
In the meeting, Haqqani asked Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan not to persecute Afghan immigrants and to respect the human rights of immigrants.
The Iranian Minister of Interior Ahmad Wahidi claimed that the Islamic Emirate has asked Iran for an opportunity to provide the conditions for the return of “Afghan immigrants with permits.”
According to Iranian media reports, Wahidi said that there are currently 5 million Afghan refugees living in Iran.
The Minister of Interior of Iran asked the Islamic Emirate to provide conditions for the return of Afghan immigrants, and Afghan immigrants who do not have legal documents for residence will be deported.
“Based on our figures, there are currently around five million people. There are two parts that have been fully explained before, a part of them do not have permits which should be deported,” Wahidi said.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi asked the citizens of the country and aid institutions to help the immigrants who have returned to the country.
According to Hanafi, so far more than 400,000 Afghan immigrants have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
“The immigrants who were forcibly expelled from our neighboring countries against all national and international norms, have returned to their homeland, and the Islamic Emirate has provided them services with all the possible means it had,” Hanafi said.
Some refugee rights activists expressed concerns regarding the situation of Afghan immigrants in Iran.
“The Afghan immigrants in Iran are facing challenges due to not having legal living permits,” said Mohammad Khan Talibi, immigrants’ rights activist.
Raffaella Iodice, the EU Chargée d’Affaires to Afghanistan pledged 142 million euros in aid to returnees in a meeting with Khalil Rahman Haqqani, the acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation.
The Ministry of Refugees wrote in a statement that the situation of immigrants who return from Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran — both voluntarily and by force — was discussed in the meeting.
In the meeting, Haqqani asked Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan not to persecute Afghan immigrants and to respect the human rights of immigrants.
Iranian Minister: Afghan Immigrants Lacking Permits Will Be Deported
Officials of the Islamic Emirate repeatedly call for increased relations and engagement with regional and world countries.
The Second Deputy of the Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, in a meeting with Raffaella Iodice, chargée d’affaires of the EU delegation in Afghanistan, said that the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with the world and the member countries of the European Union, and especially with the neighboring countries of Afghanistan.
The Arg wrote in a statement that in the meeting Hanafi urged that problems with the Islamic Emirate are solved through dialogue, adding that due to the security in Afghanistan, EU member states can invest in Afghanistan.
According to the statement, Raffaella Iodice, the EU chargée d’affaires to Afghanistan pledged 145 million euros in aid to returnees in a meeting with Khalil Rahman Haqqani, the acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation.
“These meetings are useful because we want good relations with countries including EU members countries and she is the representative of the EU countries here…,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, spokesman for Islamic Emirate.
Meanwhile, some political analysts said that these meetings can help build stability in the country and be a solution for current challenges in Afghanistan.
“The most important issue is that an understanding of language should made between the Islamic Emirate and the International community, there is no such a thing but it’s a necessary issue and the subject of interaction of the Islamic Emirate with the international community must be solved,” said Sayed Qaribullah Sadat, a political analyst.
“Government officials with these meetings with representatives of other countries, and the UN, gives hope to the nation for the stability to the government,” said Abdul Ghafar Kamiyab, political analyst.
Officials of the Islamic Emirate repeatedly call for increased relations and engagement with regional and world countries.
Earlier, the EU announced $61 million in aid for Afghan refugees who have returned from Pakistan.
Political analysts said that if the report is based on the realities on the ground, it can help with solving some current challenges in Afghanistan.
UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, on Tuesday presented his report of an assessment of Afghanistan to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Switzerland at the United Nations wrote on X that the UN Security Council held a private meeting on the independent assessment on Afghanistan. “Special Coordinator Feridun Sinirlioğlu briefed the UNSC.”
“The inclusion and active participation of women and girls in all aspects of life is an essential condition for the country’s future,” Switzerland at the UN said.
Official account of the Permanent Mission of Malta to the UN said on its X account that it attended a “private meeting” to discuss the independent assessment review to address current challenges faced by Afghanistan.
“We highlighted several concerns, including the various violations of the human rights of women and girls,” Malta said.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the situation in Afghanistan has positively changed and that it should be supported.
“We believe that the situation in Afghanistan is extraordinarily positive, and this situation should be admired. It should be encouraged, so the situation becomes better, not for the damages against security, development and achievements to be diminished,” he said.
Political analysts said that if the report is based on the realities on the ground, it can help with solving some current challenges in Afghanistan.
“The concerns are useless. Instead of giving slogans, it is better that the Islamic Emirate sit face-to-face and talk about the various issues and at least give an opportunity to the women of Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate should understand it,” said Abdul Jabar Akbari, a political analyst.
“The remarks by Sinirlioğlu and the report that he provided to the UN, can get us out of many problems if the Islamic Emirate pays practical and sincere attention to it,” said Abdul Shokor Dadras, a political analyst.
Earlier, in a document accessed by TOLOnews, the Islamic Emirate articulated its stance towards the assessment of the situation of Afghanistan conducted by a UN team, saying that it welcomes recommendations that support the strengthening of the national economy of the country and opening of the pathway to the recognition of the “current government” and “encourages regional connectivity and transit via Afghanistan.”
Sinirlioğlu Presents Assessment of Afghanistan at Closed UNSC Session
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani province is setting targets for police to arrest and deport hundreds of thousands of Afghans it says are in the country illegally, officials said Thursday.
The measure is part of a nationwide crackdown following a sharp decline in the expulsion of Afghans living in Pakistan without legal permission. Near the Chaman border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, local residents were protesting against new travel visa requirements aimed at cutting down on illegal immigration that have disrupted traffic in the area.
Some of those targeted for deportation had apparently gone to remote areas in Pakistan to avoid arrest, authorities said.
“Instructions have gone to police to arrest Afghans living in Pakistan illegally,” said Jan Achakzai, spokesperson for the government in southwestern Baluchistan province. He said authorities have been asked to deport 10,000 Afghans a day.
Achakzai made his comment days after authorities at the two key northwestern Torkham and southwestern Chaman border crossings acknowledged a sudden decrease in the number of Afghans who were sent back to Afghanistan after being arrested on the charges of living in Pakistan illegally.
An estimated 1.7 million Afghans were living in Pakistan in October when authorities announced the crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to go back to their countries by Oct. 31 or be arrested.
Since then, more than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation in Kabul, Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, said 410,000 citizens have entered the country from Pakistan in the past two months. More than 200,000 have returned to Afghanistan from other countries including Iran, which is also cracking down on undocumented foreigners, he said.
Pakistani officials say they are deporting only those foreigners, including Afghans, who are in the country illegally, and an estimated 1.4 million Afghans who are registered as refugees should not worry as they are not the target of the anti-migrant drive. Police in Pakistan have been going door to door to check migrants’ documentation.
Pakistan has been hosting Afghans since the 1980s, when millions of Afghans fled south and east to the neighboring Islamic nation during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers spiked after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
As part of its crackdown, Pakistan stopped recognizing special permits under which hundreds of thousands of residents in Chaman could cross between the two countries. The new visa requirement angered residents who have been rallying near the border, disrupting normal traffic toward the border crossing.
The protesters want Pakistan to allow them to continue using the special permits for business purposes and to meet with relatives who live in the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban-led administration says it is providing shelter and food to returnees. According to Tolo News, a private Afghan media outlet, Afghan refugees have complained of mistreatment by Pakistani soldiers.
The alleged mistreatment of migrants by Pakistani authorities has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
On Tuesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Pakistani authorities have committed widespread abuses against Afghans living in the country to compel their return home.
“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.”
Pakistani authorities have denied such allegations, saying anyone found guilty of mistreating Afghan immigrants lacking permanent legal status would be punished. Achakzai said migrants who are in the country illegally are held at deporting centers in a dignified manner before transporting them to border crossings so they can go back home.
Ahmed reported from Islamabad.
A Pakistani province aims to deport 10,000 Afghans a day