Pressure on Afghan refugees in Pakistan intensifies; Arrests and forced deportations in Peshawar increase

Kabul Times News:

As the process of deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan continues, a number of Afghan citizens living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province say that the Pakistani police have significantly expanded the scope of arrests of refugees in recent days. According to them, many Afghans have stopped their daily activities and businesses for fear of arrest.

Afghan refugees say that the "Board" market in Peshawar, which is considered one of the most important centers of economic activity for Afghans, has witnessed a large police presence these days. According to them, officers have been conducting frequent inspections, arresting Afghan refugees and deporting a number of them to Afghanistan without delay.

An Afghan shopkeeper in this market says that the fear of arrest has caused many shop owners to close their doors and avoid being at work. He added that the market atmosphere has become much more worrying than before.

A number of other migrants have also reported the worsening situation, saying that many Afghan families do not leave their homes simply because of the fear of arrest, and their economic activities have practically stopped.

Meanwhile, the Joint High Council of Afghan Refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced that the council’s consultations with Pakistani officials and international organizations to prevent the mass deportation of migrants have not yielded any tangible results so far.

The head of the council says that Afghan capital and business owners have suffered the most because, in addition to being unable to manage their economic activities, they are also forced to sell their assets and properties at very low prices.

The council has called on the United Nations and other international organizations to take practical and immediate measures to prevent forced deportation and provide the basis for their continued legal residence in Pakistan, given the critical situation of Afghan refugees, especially businessmen and investors.

Report: Shahbanu Noor