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INPRIMATU
Afghan women threatened by the Pakistani Government deportation order
  • The Government of Pakistan ordered undocumented Afghan applicants to leave before 1 November. According to Amnesty International, there are 1.4 million refugees in Pakistan. The NGO has pointed out that many of those who would return to Afghanistan are at high risk of persecution, repression and human rights violations, especially of women and girls.
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Ihesean doazen afganiarrak, Pakistango Gobernuak deportatzeko agindua eman ondoren. Ihesean doazen afganiarrak, Pakistango Gobernuak deportatzeko agindua eman ondoren.

The Pakistani Government threatens to deport and arrest Afghan refugees if they do not comply with the order. The Government of Pakistan has already begun to make arrests.

According to data from the United Nations, 1.3 million Afghans are registered as refugees. Another 880,000 Afghans have the legal status of being in Pakistan. In total, over two million people live in Pakistan without Afghan papers. Of these, 600,000 were fled to Pakistan following the takeover of the Taliban from Afghanistan. In fact, the general data provided by the UN are not data after the Taliban took office, but figures derived from displacements caused by the war of decades.

Women and girls at high risk

Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani Government to immediately cancel the decision to deport refugees. The NGO has stated that “Pakistan must comply with international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement. It also calls for an end to the repression and persecution of Afghans in the country. It calls on the international community to support Pakistan financially to welcome Afghan refugees and to support the flight of Afghanistan.

The same organisation has highlighted the situation of women and girls. If, as a result of their expulsion from Pakistan, they return to Afghanistan, they will be at risk of persecution and serious violations of human rights by their sex and gender. Living and learning in Pakistan is the only possibility of formal education for most women and girls who have fled. The organization has recalled that journalists, human rights defenders, female entrepreneurs, artists and former government officials are in danger and can suffer persecution and repression in the hands of the Taliban.