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Turkey pushing tens of thousands of Afghans back at Iran border: HRW
Turkey is routinely pushing tens of thousands of Afghans back at its land border with Iran or deporting them directly to Afghanistan with little or no examination of their claims for international protection, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Friday.
The 73-page report, “‘No One Asked Me Why I Left Afghanistan,’” says that Turkey has stepped up pushbacks and deportations to Afghanistan since August 2021. Human Rights Watch also found that Afghans inside Turkey are being blocked from registering for international protection and that Afghans facing imminent deportation are often given no opportunity to make refugee claims. As of October 20, 2022, the Presidency of Migration Management in Turkey’s Interior Ministry reported 238,448 “irregular migrants whose entrance to our country has been prevented” in 2022, most of them Afghans. Turkey reported deporting 44,768 Afghans by air to Kabul in the first eight months of 2022, a 150 percent increase over the first eight months of 2021.
“Although Turkey has rightly earned international acclaim and support for hosting the largest number of refugees of any country in the world, it is simultaneously pushing many Afghans back at its borders or deporting them to Afghanistan with little or no examination of their claims for international protection,” said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Turkey should immediately halt these routine pushbacks of Afghans from its borders and give all Afghans facing removal the opportunity to make refugee claims.”
Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees of any country in the world, an estimated 3.9 million people, 3.6 million Syrians with temporary protection and 320,000 others, mostly Afghans.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 68 Afghans, 38 of whom described 114 pushback incidents between January 2021 and April 2022. All the men and boys traveling without female family members personally experienced or witnessed Turkish authorities beating or otherwise abusing them and others who were with them. Many also said that Turkish border authorities shot in their direction, sometimes at them, as they approached or attempted to cross the border.
Human Rights Watch found that many Afghans facing imminent deportation are given no opportunity to make refugee claims or otherwise challenge their deportation, and their signatures or fingerprints on voluntary return forms are often forced, obtained through deception, or forged.
Because Turkish authorities block access to asylum, forcibly return people who appear to be refugees, and commit other abuses against migrants and people seeking international protection, Turkey does not meet the criteria of a safe third country provided by EU law under Article 38 of the Asylum Procedures Directive, Human Rights Watch said.
“No EU member state should deny access to asylum for Afghans or other nationals under the pretense that Turkey would be a safe third country for them,” Frelick said. “EU’s migration management support to Turkey should be made conditional on demonstrated assurances that such support doesn’t contribute to denying people their right to seek asylum or to returning them to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened.”
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Baradar urges scholars to promote protection of Islamic system and national interests
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, has called on religious scholars to play a stronger role in promoting the protection of the Islamic system and Afghanistan’s national interests among the public.
Speaking at a turban-tying ceremony at Jamia Fath al-Uloom in Kabul on Wednesday, Baradar urged scholars to adopt a softer tone in their sermons and public addresses.
He said that alongside teaching religious obligations, scholars should help foster a sense of responsibility toward safeguarding the Islamic system and national unity.
Baradar described madrasas as the sacred foundations of religious learning, moral education, spiritual and intellectual development, and Islamic movements within Muslim societies.
He noted that in Afghanistan, religious teachings and the concept of sacred jihad originated in madrasas, spread from villages to cities, and eventually translated into action and resistance.
He also emphasized the role of madrasas in the intellectual reform of society, the removal of what he described as un-Islamic cultural influences, and the preservation of Islamic traditions.
Baradar stressed that religious schools must remain committed to their original mission and values under all circumstances.
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Iran’s Bahrami invites Afghan FM Muttaqi to Tehran during Kabul meeting
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Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan discuss expanding trade and economic cooperation
Azizi welcomed the Kyrgyz delegation and thanked them for visiting Kabul, underscoring the importance of closer economic engagement between the two countries.
Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan held high-level talks in Kabul aimed at strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations, officials said.
The meeting brought together Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and Bakyt Sadykov, Minister of Economy and Trade of the Kyrgyz Republic, who is leading a visiting delegation to the Afghan capital.
Azizi welcomed the Kyrgyz delegation and thanked them for visiting Kabul, underscoring the importance of closer economic engagement between the two countries.
During the talks, both sides discussed ways to boost bilateral trade by making better use of existing capacities and identifying priority export commodities.
The discussions also focused on developing transit routes, signing transit agreements, attracting joint domestic and foreign investment, and expanding cooperation through trade exhibitions, business conferences and regular meetings.
The two ministers stressed the need to implement earlier agreements, particularly the economic and trade cooperation roadmap signed during a previous visit by an Afghan delegation to Kyrgyzstan.
They said effective follow-up on these commitments would be key to translating discussions into tangible results.
Officials from both countries said the meeting was intended to deepen economic, trade and investment ties, while opening new avenues for partnership between Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan in the coming period.
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