Amnesty International criticises Pakistan for its second phase of Afghan refugee deportation plan

London [UK], April 5 : Pakistan's recent announcement of deporting all Afghan refugees back to their homeland of Afghanistan after the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr will affect the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan despite having the required Pakistani citizenship, a report by Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Reacting to the announcement of the newly elected government James Jennion, Campaigner for the Refugee and Migrants' Rights at Amnesty International, said, "The Pakistan authorities' callous disregard for the persecution, serious human rights violations and humanitarian catastrophe that await Afghan refugees if deported to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is heart-breaking. Instead of heeding repeated global calls to halt deportations, the newly-elected Pakistani government has disappointingly now extended the deportation drive to Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders as well," the same report also said.
Jennion also mentioned that this decision will affect the lives of over 8,00,000 Afghan refugees across Pakistan and expose these Afghans to another wave of harassment and struggle.
"Pakistan's 'Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan' is in violation of refugee and international human rights law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, and puts the lives of all Afghan refugees at risk, particularly women, girls, journalists, human rights defenders, women protestors, artists, and former Afghan government and security officials. The Government's decision also lacks transparency and arbitrarily cancels the validity of the ACC documentation that was issued by the Government of Pakistan itself," he also said.
"We call on the Pakistani authorities to immediately reverse these decisions and urgently pass human rights-compliant law protecting the rights of refugees in the country and become a state party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees along with its Protocols.", he added.
In October last year, the Pakistani administration had announced 'Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan' which stated that all Afghan refugees must leave Pakistan within 30 days, or will be forced to leave the country after the deadline.
The Amnesty International report mentioned that it has documented a complete lack of transparency, due process and accountability in the detentions and unlawful deportations of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which was exacerbated by increased harassment and hostility towards them.
Further, referring to the second phase of Pakistan's deportation plan the same report mentioned that in phase 2 of the 'repatriation plan', Pakistan-issued Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders will be expelled from the country after the Eid Al-Fitr festival, a major Muslim holiday expected to fall on April 10, 2024 in the region. Phase 3 is expected to result in the forced and unlawful deportation of UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders.
According to the Amnesty International report, Pakistan since September 2023 has deported 5,27,981 refugees to Afghanistan. The government states that there are over 8,00,000 ACC holders, while UNHCR estimates there are 1.3 million PoR holders in Pakistan.
Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the government to reverse its decision to deport Afghan refugees, most recently in its ten-point Human Rights Charter for the newly elected government in Pakistan, the report mentioned.