Latest news with #refugeeCrisis
Arab News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan to consider extending deadline for Afghan refugees facing mass deportation
PESHAWAR: Pakistan will consider extending the deadline for 1.4 million Afghan refugees living legally in the country to return home, officials said on Monday. Any extension approved by the government would be a relief for those who were previously ordered to return to Afghanistan by June 30, according to government and security officials. A decision could come on Tuesday when the Cabinet is due to meet. In 2023, Pakistan launched a controversial crackdown on foreigners it said were in the country illegally, mostly Afghans. Millions of Afghans have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war or poverty. The officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media on the record — said the proposed extension was to allow the refugees more time to settle their personal affairs in Pakistan, such as selling property or wrapping up business activities, before returning to Afghanistan in an orderly and dignified way. A senior ministry official said the decision to submit the extension proposal was made last week. A summary regarding the fate of the Afghan refugees has been forwarded for inclusion in the Cabinet agenda. The Interior Ministry, which has overseen the sweeping crackdown on Afghans, did not immediately comment. There was no comment from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which previously said it expected Afghan authorities to create 'conducive conditions' so those returning were fully integrated into Afghan society. Earlier this year, Pakistan said it wanted 3 million Afghans to leave the country, including 1.4 million people with Proof of Registration cards and some 800,000 with Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans in the country illegally because they have no paperwork, according to officials. They said Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier Regions submitted a proposal to the federal government recommending a six-month extension for Afghans with Proof of Registration cards. Pakistan's expulsion campaign has drawn strong criticism from the UN and rights organizations. Human Rights Watch has accused authorities of arbitrarily detaining and forcibly deporting Afghans, many of whom, they say, face harassment under the Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. On Saturday, the UN refugee agency said at least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year. It warned that repatriations on a massive scale have the potential to destabilize the fragile situation in Afghanistan.
Associated Press
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Pakistan to consider extending deadline for Afghan refugees facing mass deportation
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan will consider extending the deadline for 1.4 million Afghan refugees living legally in the country to return home, officials said on Monday. Any extension approved by the government would be a relief for those who were previously ordered to return to Afghanistan by June 30, according to government and security officials. A decision could come on Tuesday when the Cabinet is due to meet. In 2023, Pakistan launched a controversial crackdown on foreigners it said were in the country illegally, mostly Afghans. Millions of Afghans have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war or poverty. The officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media on the record — said the proposed extension was to allow the refugees more time to settle their personal affairs in Pakistan, such as selling property or wrapping up business activities, before returning to Afghanistan in an orderly and dignified way. A senior ministry official said the decision to submit the extension proposal was made last week. A summary regarding the fate of the Afghan refugees has been forwarded for inclusion in the Cabinet agenda. The Interior Ministry, which has overseen the sweeping crackdown on Afghans, did not immediately comment. There was no comment from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which previously said it expected Afghan authorities to create 'conducive conditions' so those returning were fully integrated into Afghan society. Earlier this year, Pakistan said it wanted 3 million Afghans to leave the country, including 1.4 million people with Proof of Registration cards and some 800,000 with Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans in the country illegally because they have no paperwork, according to officials. They said Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier Regions submitted a proposal to the federal government recommending a six-month extension for Afghans with Proof of Registration cards. Pakistan's expulsion campaign has drawn strong criticism from the U.N. and rights organizations. Human Rights Watch has accused authorities of arbitrarily detaining and forcibly deporting Afghans, many of whom, they say, face harassment under the Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. On Saturday, the U.N. refugee agency said at least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year. It warned that repatriations on a massive scale have the potential to destabilize the fragile situation in Afghanistan.
Al Jazeera
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
How Sudan's war is driving Chad's humanitarian collapse
A UN official and a Sudanese refugee talk to Al Jazeera from Chad, where aid is vanishing and camps face a growing catastrophe. As Sudan's war effects spill into Chad, the country faces the world's most underfunded refugee crisis. Nearly a million Sudanese, mostly women and children, have fled, but aid is vanishing, disease is looming, and the system is on the verge of collapse. In this episode of Talk to Al Jazeera , Ahmed Idris speaks to a United Nations lead official in Chad and to a Sudanese refugee activist who fled the same forces now threatening his people. As the world looks away, they warn that the cost of inaction may soon be counted in lives.
Arab News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Iran-Israel war must not become refugee crisis: UN
GENEVA: The United Nations said on Saturday the Iran-Israel war must not be allowed to trigger another refugee crisis in the Middle East, saying once people fled there was no quick way back. UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, said the intensity of the attacks between the two sides was already triggering population movements in both countries. Such movements had already been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, it said, with some people crossing into neighboring countries. Strikes in Israel had caused people to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad. 'This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss and displacement. We cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,' said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees. 'The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations.' Israel said on Saturday it had launched fresh air strikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran. Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people. Iran hosts the largest number of refugees in the world — around 3.5 million — mostly of them from Afghanistan. If the conflict persists, Iran's existing refugee populations would also face renewed uncertainty and yet more hardship, UNHCR said. The agency called for an urgent de-escalation in the conflict and urged countries in the region to respect the right of people to seek safety. The Israeli government says the unprecedented wave of attacks it has launched at Iran since June 13 is aimed at preventing its rival from developing nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran strongly denies. Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
Al Arabiya
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Iran-Israel war must not become refugee crisis: UN
The United Nations said on Saturday the Iran-Israel war must not be allowed to trigger another refugee crisis in the Middle East, saying once people fled there was no quick way back. UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, said the intensity of the attacks between the two sides was already triggering population movements in both countries. Such movements had already been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, it said, with some people crossing into neighboring countries. Strikes in Israel had caused people to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad. 'This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss and displacement. We cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,' said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees. 'The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back -- and all too often, the consequences last for generations.' Israel said on Saturday it had launched fresh airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran. Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people. Iran hosts the largest number of refugees in the world -- around 3.5 million -- mostly of them from Afghanistan. If the conflict persists, Iran's existing refugee populations would also face renewed uncertainty and yet more hardship, UNHCR said. The agency called for an urgent de-escalation in the conflict and urged countries in the region to respect the right of people to seek safety. The Israeli government says the unprecedented wave of attacks it has launched at Iran since June 13 is aimed at preventing its rival from developing nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran strongly denies. Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
