The Pakistan government’s crackdown on thousands of undocumented immigrants in the country has given rise to concerns among the Afghani people, dozens of whom have protested outside the UNHCR office in Quetta against their possible deportation.
Carrying banners and raising slogans outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Quetta on Thursday, dozens of Afghan singers protested against the decision of Pakistan’s caretaker government to set a deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave the country or risk imprisonment and deportation.
Thousands of undocumented immigrants, including Afghan nationals, would be impacted by the November 1 deadline, aimed at intensifying the crackdown against those involved in militancy and smuggling in the country.
The protesting Afghan singers said they didn’t want to return to Afghanistan as they may face persecution by the Taliban regime. They wondered what their future would be if they were deported back to their country.
“We fear deportation, and although we have valid refugee documents, we are concerned at what will happen,” Ahmed Shedayee, an Afghan singer, told the media. The protesters, who carried their singing devices with them, asserted that the Taliban considered singers evil and they would not be safe in Afghanistan.
Shedayee, who escaped from Kabul after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, said the protesters were concerned about their lives and security. The UNHCR’s Quetta Spokesman, Humera Kareem, said they were doing everything to help the singers. Meanwhile, authorities launched a crackdown on illegal Afghan refugees in Karachi on Thursday, making 1,700 arrests.
Caretaker Minister for Home and Prisons, Brig. (retd) Haris Nawaz, said the illegal refugees were living in the local population, and strict action will continue against them. “We are now overdone with our hospitality,” he said.
Alleging that some refugees were found to be involved in fuelling terrorism, Nawaz said, “We are not taking chances to identify the actual culprits and instead sending all illegal immigrants home.” He added that there will be no compromise on national security.
The caretaker minister further said that the US military had left many weapons in Afghanistan when they pulled out of the country in 2021, and terrorist organisations now have access to those weapons.