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EU envoy calls for end to Hazaras being targeted
Tomas Niklasson, Acting Special Envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan, said Thursday that “targeting Hazaras” must be stopped.
The EU stated in a tweet that Niklasson has met with surviving students of the Sayed-ul-Shuhada school attack.
The school, located in densely populated Dasht-e-Barchi area in Kabul, was targeted by a deadly bombing in early May.
Around 100 people – mostly school girls – were killed and around 200 others wounded in the tragedy.
Niklasson has stated that crimes have been committed and that they must be investigated.
“Targeting Hazaras must stop and crimes be investigated,” he said.
Niklasson noted that some people want to stop the grieving of Sayed-ul-Shuhada students, but “their memory can be honored by pursuing dreams.”
“Those taken away too early can’t be brought back. But their memory can be honored by pursuing dreams that some want to stop,” he stated.
So far, no group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Recently the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) called on the Afghan government to grant special protection to Hazaras and the community in Dasht-e-Barchi.
The AIHRC said in a statement that it was the government’s duty to protect the Hazara community against crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, or genocide.
“The Afghan government has an obligation under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law to protect the population at risk of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing or genocide and international law obliges the government to take measures to end and prevent genocide and war crimes, crimes against humanity and persecution on the basis of ethnicity and gender,” the statement read.
“In October 2020, just over six months ago, more than 40 students died in an attack on Kawsar Danish tutoring center. In May 2020, almost a year ago 11 mothers were murdered with their unborn babies, two boys were, and an Afghan midwife was killed, with 5 mothers injured; this is femicide and infanticide,” the statement highlighted.
The AIHRC stressed that the Afghan government should fulfill its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “which includes acknowledging massacres targeting Hazaras.”
“The Afghan government should communicate immediately a human rights-based protection plan for Dasht-e-Barchi and West Kabul. This should include plans for collective reparations,” the organization said.
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Iran, Pakistan leaders raise concerns over ‘terrorist groups’ in Afghanistan
Following a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to further expand commercial and economic cooperation and transform the common border of the two countries from a “border of peace” to “border of prosperity”.
The two leaders also strongly condemned aggressions and crimes of Israel in Gaza, and demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged people of Gaza.
Numerous other issues were also discussed but on the topic of Afghanistan, they jointly declared their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, independent country free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.
According to the statement the two countries pointed out that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is a serious threat to the security of the region and the world.
The two sides stressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and ensuring security and creating a united front against terrorism.
They also discussed the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
“While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country,” the statement read.
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Over 1,000 Afghan refugees forced out of Pakistan in one day
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) says over 1,000 Afghan migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan on Tuesday through Spin Boldak border crossing in Kandahar province, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stated that based on information provided by the Spin Boldak Kandahar border command, these returnees comprised 191 families, totalling 998 people.
In addition, three migrants released from Pakistani prisons were also returned, according to the statement.
The statement added that after registering the returnees, the refugees were referred to the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each family received 10,000 afghanis – paid to them by the Islamic Emirate.
In another statement, the ministry said that 2,783 migrants living in Iran voluntarily and forcibly returned to the country during this week.
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Afghanistan’s minister of transport and aviation attends regional meeting in Uzbekistan
Hamidullah Akhundzadeh, acting Minister of Transport and Aviation, headed a delegation to Uzbekistan for a ‘Six-Party Corridor’ meeting that included representatives from Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of this meeting the Afghanistan delegation discussed trade through the corridor with the other five relevant countries.
According to the ministry of transport and aviation, Akhundzadeh met with the deputy ministers of transport of Russia and Belarus.
He also discussed ways to expand transit between Afghanistan and Russia; and Afghanistan and Belarus, and provide the necessary facilities to achieve this.
The ministry added that the acting minister had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Transport and the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on Afghanistan and discussed the expansion of road transport between the two countries.
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