Few minutes to pack up a lifetime: Pakistan's foreigner crackdown sends Afghans scrambling
Sher Khan, a 42-year-old Afghan, had returned home from his job in a brick factory. He stared at the plainclothes policeman on the doorstep, his mind reeling. How could he pack up his whole life and leave the country of his birth in under an hour?
In the blink of an eye, the life he had built was taken away from him. He and his wife grabbed a few kitchen items and whatever clothes they could for themselves and their nine children. They left everything else behind at their home in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Born in Pakistan to parents who fled the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ensuing war, Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have now been expelled.
The nationwide crackdown, launched in October 2023, on foreigners Pakistan says are living in the country illegally has led to the departures of almost 1 million Afghans already.
Pakistan says millions more remain. It wants them gone.
Leaving with nothing to beat a deadline
'All our belongings were left behind,' Khan said as he stood in a dusty, windswept refugee camp just across the Afghan border in Torkham, the first stop for expelled refugees. 'We tried so hard (over the years) to collect the things that we had with honor.'
Pakistan set several deadlines earlier this year for Afghans to leave or face deportation. Afghan Citizen Card holders had to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31, while those with Proof of Registration could stay until June 30. No specific deadlines were set for Afghans living elsewhere in Pakistan.
Khan feared that delaying his departure beyond the deadline might have resulted in his wife and children being hauled off to a police station along with him a blow to his family's dignity.
'We are happy that we came (to Afghanistan) with modesty and honor,' he said. As for his lost belongings, 'God may provide for them here, as He did there.'
A refugee influx in a struggling country
At the Torkham camp, run by Afghanistan's Taliban government, each family receives a SIM card and 10,000 Afghanis ($145) in aid. They can spend up to three days there before having to move on.
The camp's director, Molvi Hashim Maiwandwal, said some 150 families were arriving daily from Pakistan – far fewer than the roughly 1,200 families who were arriving about two months ago. But he said another surge was expected after the three-day Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha that started June 7.
Aid organizations inside the camp help with basic needs, including health care. Local charity Aseel provides hygiene kits and helps with food. It has also set up a food package delivery system for families once they arrive at their final destination elsewhere in Afghanistan.
Aseel's Najibullah Ghiasi said they expected a surge in arrivals 'by a significant number' after Eid. 'We cannot handle all of them, because the number is so huge,' he said, adding the organization was trying to boost fundraising so it could support more people.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan for militancy
Pakistan accuses Afghans of staging militant attacks inside the country, saying assaults are planned from across the border – a charge Kabul's Taliban government denies.
Pakistan denies targeting Afghans, and maintains that everyone leaving the country is treated humanely and with dignity. But for many, there is little that is humane about being forced to pack up and leave in minutes or hours.
Iran, too, has been expelling Afghans, with the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, saying on June 5 that 500,000 Afghans had been forced to leave Iran and Pakistan in the two months since April 1.
Rights groups and aid agencies say authorities are pressuring Afghans into going sooner.
In April, Human Rights Watch said police had raided houses, beaten and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits. Officers demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan, the group added.
Searching for hope while starting again
Fifty-year-old Yar Mohammad lived in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir for nearly 45 years. The father of 12 built a successful business polishing floors, hiring several workers. Plainclothes policemen knocked on his door too. They gave him six hours to leave.
'No way a person can wrap up so much business in six hours, especially if they spent 45 years in one place,' he said. Friends rushed to his aid to help pack up anything they could: the company's floor-polishing machines, some tables, bed-frames and mattresses, and clothes.
Now all his household belongings are crammed into orange tents in the Torkham refugee camp, his hard-earned floor-polishing machines outside and exposed to the elements. After three days of searching, he managed to find a place to rent in Kabul.
'I have no idea what we will do,' he said, adding that he would try to recreate his floor-polishing business in Afghanistan. 'If this works here, it is the best thing to do.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Israel PM says ‘will allow' Palestinians to leave Gaza
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would let Palestinians leave the Gaza Strip, as the military prepares a broader offensive in the territory. Past calls to resettle Gazans outside of the war-battered territory, including from US President Donald Trump, have sparked concern among Palestinians and condemnation from the international community. In an interview with Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS, as the military prepares a broader offensive in Gaza, Netanyahu said 'we are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave.' 'Give them the opportunity to leave, first of all, combat zones, and generally to leave the territory, if they want,' he said, citing refugee outflows during wars in Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. In the Gaza Strip, Israel for years has tightly controlled the borders and barred many from leaving. 'We will allow this, first of all, within Gaza during the fighting, and we will certainly allow them to leave Gaza as well,' Netanyahu said. For Palestinians, any effort to push them force them off their land would recall the 'Nakba,' or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948. Earlier this year, Trump stirred controversy by openly suggesting that the United States should take control of Gaza and expel its 2.4 million inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan. Netanyahu also previously said his government was working to find third countries to take in Gaza's population, following Trump's suggestion they be expelled and the territory redeveloped as a holiday destination. Far-right ministers in Netanyahu's coalition have called for the 'voluntary' departure of Gaza's Palestinians. Last week, Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into the remaining parts of Gaza not yet controlled by the military. The vast majority of Gaza's people have been displaced at least once during the war, triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
'You can't snatch even a drop,' Pakistan warns India against restricting Indus waters
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday warned India against restricting the flow of its share of the Indus waters, saying New Delhi could not 'snatch even a drop' of water from Pakistan. India announced in April it was putting the 1960 World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, in abeyance a day after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan, an allegation Islamabad denies. The IWT grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin's western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement. Pakistan has previously said the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered 'an act of war,' while Islamabad said on Monday that the Court of Arbitration in the Hague last week issued a ruling with regard to the design of new Indian hydro-electric power stations on the western rivers that was in line with Pakistan's interpretation of the relevant provisions of the treaty. 'I want to tell this to the enemy today that you threaten to cut off our water, remember this you cannot snatch even a drop of Pakistan's share [of Indus water],' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a ceremony in Islamabad. 'If you attempt such an act, we will again teach you such a lesson that you will regret it.' Pakistan had brought a case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2023 over the design of Indian hydro-power projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the IWT. In a ruling on Friday that was posted on its website on Monday, the court said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty 'does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering' of these projects. Instead, the design of these projects must adhere 'strictly' to the specifications laid down in the treaty, the court said. Pakistan's Attorney General, Mansoor Usman, said in an interview on Tuesday that, by and large, the court had accepted Pakistan's position, especially on the design issue of the new hydropower projects. 'I am sure it is clear now that India cannot construct any of these projects in violation of the court's decision,' he told Reuters. Pakistan's foreign ministry said late Monday that the court ruling said that India had to 'let flow' the waters of the three rivers for Pakistan's unrestricted use. The court said its findings are final and binding on both countries, according to the foreign office statement. But an Indian official pointed to a June statement by India's foreign ministry, which said that New Delhi has never recognized the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration. Pakistan and India engaged in a four-day military conflict in May this year, attacking each other with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery. The standoff killed around 70 people on both sides before the United States announced a ceasefire on Monday, although India denies agreeing to the truce on the request of Washington.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Deputy PM calls for modernizing port infrastructure to boost Pakistan trade competitiveness
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has called for modernizing the country's port infrastructure and streamlining the processes to bolster Pakistan's competitiveness in regional and global trade, state media reported on Tuesday. Dar said this at a meeting he presided over in Islamabad to review operations at Pakistani ports and proposals to enhance efficiency, reduce turnaround times and ensure smooth cargo handling. Pakistan is currently making efforts to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost trade and investment alongside tourism as it slowly recovers from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. 'The meeting covered measures to address port congestion, strengthen trade facilitation, and improve logistics systems to support imports, exports and overall economic activity,' the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported. Officials say the South Asian country plans to cut container dwell time at its seaports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness and ease congestion. Islamabad last month reduced port charges for exporters by 50 percent at the second largest Port Qasim. Earlier this month, Pakistan granted its first-ever ferry service license to an international operator, Sea Keepers, for routes connecting Pakistan with Iran and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the Pakistani maritime affairs ministry said on Monday. Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry hailed the move as a 'historic step,' aligned with Pakistan's National Maritime Policy, and emphasized the opportunity this license creates for boosting regional connectivity, religious tourism and economic activity via sea routes. 'Initial operations will commence from the ports of Karachi and Gwadar using modern ferry vessels equipped with essential amenities to ensure safe, affordable travel,' Chaudhry was quoted as saying by his ministry. It did not specify a date for the start of operations.
