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Stanikzai issues stern warning to Pakistan over refugee issue
While condemning the forced expulsion of refugees and their mistreatment by Pakistan, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, on Monday warned the country of strong reaction and said that Afghanistan now has a strong army.
Speaking at a conference on economic development in Kabul, Stanikzai said that Pakistan’s expulsion of refugees is cruel and a unilateral decision.
“We do not give anyone the right to do the atrocities on our sisters, brothers and children that the security forces are doing on the soil of Pakistan. We were very patient and did not react strongly. Our hope and expectation from the security forces and civil government of Pakistan is that they should change their behavior and not force us to respond to their actions. The reaction of Afghans is well known to the world. Afghans do not react much and if they do, it will be recorded in history. Thank God, we have a strong defense force today. Our Ministry of Defense is strong, thank God. We have more weapons than most of our neighbors. We have a trained force that defeated NATO and America two years ago,” Stanikzai said.
This senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Pakistani forces seize the property of Afghan refugees before expelling them.
He also emphasized that Pakistan has ignored the request of the United Nations and the world not to deport Afghan refugees, while it has made money from the presence of refugees in its soil for years.
“The United Nations, the world, human rights organizations all want Pakistan to reverse its decision. But they intensify their stubbornness unilaterally and now there is a lot of pressure and crowding at our borders including Spin Boldak and Torkham. Tens of thousands of people, including children, come to Afghanistan every day,” Stanikzai said.
Pakistan has cited security concerns as the reason for expelling illegal foreigners.
Officials of the Islamic Emirate, however, have said that Pakistan is making an excuse as IEA has already made a commitment to the world that it will not allow its soil to be used against any other country.
Visiting Torkham, Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani called on Pakistani authorities to stop mistreating Afghan refugees.
“They should reconsider their decision and stop this process. They should not confiscate refugees’ property, but repatriate them in a dignified manner. They should stop beating or torturing them,” Haqqani said.
The Pakistani government had given illegal refugees until November 1 to leave the country.
Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, said on Saturday at the meeting of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC) in Uzbekistan that the cultivation, trafficking, and sale of narcotics in Afghanistan have “almost dropped to zero.”
Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said in a statement that Munir described the Islamic Emirate’s ongoing counter-narcotics campaign in Afghanistan as “a milestone of achievements.”
At the meeting, Munir emphasized cooperation among member countries and called on them to assist Afghan farmers in creating alternative livelihood opportunities so that the phenomenon of narcotics can be completely eradicated from Afghanistan.
Australia on Saturday announced financial sanctions and travel bans on four senior officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), citing what it described as a worsening human rights situation in the country, particularly for women and girls.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the targeted officials were involved “in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law.”
Australia had been part of the NATO-led international mission in Afghanistan before withdrawing its troops in August 2021.
Wong said the sanctions target three IEA ministers and the IEA’s chief justice, accusing them of restricting women’s and girls’ access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and participation in public life.
The officials include Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice; Neda Mohammad Nadeem, Minister of Higher Education; Abdul Hakim Sharei, Minister of Justice; and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
According to Wong, the measures fall under Australia’s new sanctions framework, which allows Canberra to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban (IEA), targeting the oppression of the Afghan people.”
Responding to the announcement, Saif-ul-Islam Khaibar, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, criticized the sanctions.
He claimed that countries imposing such measures “are themselves violators of women’s rights” and called Australia’s move an insult to the religious and cultural values of Afghans.
Khaibar added that the IEA has “stopped rights violations of hundreds of thousands of women over the past four years.”
During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi, India and Russia issued a joint statement highlighting their close coordination on Afghanistan. Both sides appreciated the ongoing dialogue between their respective Security Councils and underscored the significance of the Moscow Format meetings in promoting regional stability.
The leaders welcomed counter-terrorism efforts targeting international terrorist groups, including ISIS, ISKP, and their affiliates, expressing confidence in a comprehensive and effective approach to combating terrorism in Afghanistan. They also stressed the urgent need to ensure uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
India and Russia have maintained close ties on regional security, particularly concerning developments in Afghanistan following the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021. The Moscow Format, a diplomatic platform including Afghanistan’s neighbors, has played a key role in facilitating dialogue on peace, stability, and counter-terrorism in the region.
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