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Pakistan must stop mass detention, deportation of Afghan refugees: rights watchdog
The government of Pakistan must immediately halt the continued detentions, deportations and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees, Amnesty International said on Friday.
According to Islamabad, more than 170,000 Afghans, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades, have had to leave the country since 17 September when the government announced that all ‘unregistered foreign nationals’ had to leave Pakistan by 1 November.
Amnesty International said it is concerned by the complete lack of transparency, due process and accountability in the detentions and deportations taking place over the last week.
This has been exacerbated by increased incidents of harassment and hostility against Afghan refugees in the country, it added.
“Thousands of Afghan refugees are being used as political pawns to be returned to Taliban-ruled (IEA) Afghanistan where their life and physical integrity could be at risk amidst an intensified crackdown on human rights and an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe,” Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigns Deputy Director, said. “No one should be subjected to mass forced deportations, and Pakistan would do well to remember its international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement.”
Saccardi said that if the Pakistani government doesn’t halt the deportations immediately, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.”
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday in Tehran during an official visit.
According to Iranian media reports, the two diplomats discussed bilateral relations, recent regional developments, and issues of mutual interest.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has inspected the construction work of the second lane of the Kabul–Jalalabad highway, Arg said on Thursday.
According to Arg’s statement , the Prime Minister visited the project site earlier in the day and expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Ministry of Public Works, project officials, and private contracting companies involved in the construction process. He also issued directives for the timely and high-quality completion of the project.
Akhund said the completion of the highway would significantly improve transportation facilities, transit operations, passenger movement, and contribute to economic growth in the surrounding regions.
Officials report that construction work on the second section of the project, covering 32 kilometers from the Kabul side, is currently about 20 percent complete.
Meanwhile, work on the first 22-kilometer section from the Nangarhar side is also ongoing. Surveying and design work for the third section is being carried out by a private company, with construction expected to begin after completion of the preparatory phase.
The Kabul–Jalalabad second-lane highway is regarded as one of Afghanistan’s key transport and economic infrastructure projects and is being developed in three phases.
Senior officials from the foreign ministries of Afghanistan and Russia held consultations in Kabul, focusing on expanding bilateral cooperation and strengthening regional engagement involving Afghanistan.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the meeting was held between A.V. Pavlovsky, Director of the Second Asia Department of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Abdul Hai Qanit, Director of the Third Political Department at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two sides discussed cooperation in the political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian fields, as well as ways to strengthen regional interaction with Afghanistan’s participation.
The consultations underscore ongoing diplomatic engagement between Moscow and Kabul as the two countries continue to explore closer cooperation on regional and bilateral issues.
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