Latest news with #MohammadIqbal
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
New Trump ban puts thousands of Afghans in US resettlement limbo
KABUL: A new US travel ban, which lists Afghans among nationals of 12 affected countries, has put on hold the lives of thousands of refugees who fled Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American-led troops in 2021. US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country — part of a broader immigration crackdown launched by his administration earlier this year at the start of his second term. The move has placed in a state of indefinite waiting some 25,000 Afghans who have been approved for relocation to the US and are awaiting departure in Pakistan. One of them, Mohammad Iqbal, a 35-year-old former government employee, told Arab News that his refugee resettlement application has been active for the past two years. Having completed two interviews with the UN refugee agency and the necessary medical check-ups, he was waiting for his final visa appointment. He is not allowed to work in Pakistan, and he also cannot go back to Afghanistan — both for safety reasons and since that would halt the refugee process. 'I am running out of money and there is no work for Afghans here in Pakistan. We are also facing an increasing risk of deportation. My passport will expire if I don't make it to the US in a few months. It will be very difficult to go back to Afghanistan. I won't be safe there,' Iqbal said. 'I have done my master's degree abroad and worked in some highly technical positions before 2021 ... The current decision by the US president is very unfair and is against the promises made to us by the US government.' Besides those in Pakistan, thousands more Afghans are in the same situation stranded in Qatar and in the UAE, and another few hundred have been kept waiting at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo — the largest US military base in the Balkans. The US travel ban will be in effect from June 9, according to a presidential proclamation released by the White House, which said that it was needed to protect the US from 'from terrorist attacks and other national security or public-safety threats.' Justifying the decision on Afghanistan, Trump cited its lack of a 'competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents' and screening and vetting capabilities. Another reason was that the Taliban, 'a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group,' controls Afghanistan. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, when its Western-backed administration collapsed as American-led international forces withdrew after two decades of occupation that started with the US invasion of the country in 2001. The troop withdrawal was followed by an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Afghans — many of whom had worked as translators or local staff for foreign governments, organizations or for the previous administration, and feared potential retribution by the Taliban. 'The US played a direct role in creating this situation. As a result of the 20-year US occupation, Afghan society was divided into hostile groups that turned against each other,' said Nasir Ahmad Nawidy, political science professor at Salam University in Kabul. 'Because of the improper policy of the US — without an agreement and peace being reached — the country collapsed, and the systems and order were destroyed. As a result, many people who were prominent figures or experts in the previous regime, or other people who had held important positions in this country, were forced to leave Afghanistan.' He was still hopeful that the US justice system would challenge Trump's decision. 'The US has a commitment to these people,' he said. 'They have been promised it, and their visas are in process. Ignoring these commitments and halting or delaying ongoing processes is against all humanitarian laws.'
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Former national basketball player Iqbal passes away in Kerala
KOCHI: Veteran basketball player Mohammad Iqbal, who was the first Keralite to be a part of the Indian basketball team, passed away at 73 on Monday at his residence in Ernakulam. He represented the nation in several events, including the Asian Basketball Confederation Championship. Iqbal, who captained the Kerala basketball team in the 1970s, featured regularly in the national tournaments throughout his career. A native of Kottayam, he lived in Panakkaparamb in Madavana, Kochi. He was the team captain of Baselius College, Kottayam, and the Kerala University. He also played for YMCA Kottayam, where the first basketball court in Kerala was built in 1926. Iqbal was also the president of Rebound Kerala, an association of over 400 retired basketball players from the state. He is survived by his wife Rabiya and children Tina and Asif. The funeral was held at the Juma Masjid in Aluva town on Monday.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
