Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and warned that these refugees are at risk of retaliation in Afghanistan.
In a report published on Wednesday, March 19, this international organization stated that refugees are not only facing threats in Afghanistan but are also struggling with severe economic hardships.
Human Rights Watch emphasized, “The human rights situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the takeover of the interim government.”
In its report, the organization called on the Pakistani government to halt the forced deportation of Afghan refugees.
Additionally, Human Rights Watch urged the current government to refrain from retaliating against Afghan refugees.
This comes as the Pakistani government has asked illegal refugees and holders of “ECCI” cards to leave the country by March 31.
It is worth noting that Afghan migrants in Pakistan are facing dire living conditions and are all awaiting relocation to their desired countries.
Following the current government’s takeover of Afghanistan, a large number of civil activists, human rights defenders, women’s rights advocates, journalists, sexual minorities, former military personnel, and Afghans who collaborated with foreign forces have fled to Pakistan and Iran due to fear of retaliation or to process their asylum requests to European and American countries. Some of them are still waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.
Over the past three and a half years, Iran and Pakistan have forcibly deported thousands of migrants and imposed strict policies against them in these countries.
