Expiry of Afghan Students’ Visas in Sindh Raises Concerns Over Arrests and Deportations in Pakistan
Abdul Jabbar Takhari, the Taliban’s consul general in Karachi, says that the visas of Afghan students in Pakistan’s Sindh province have expired. However, he stated that they have not yet faced any serious difficulties. At the same time, he warned that Afghan students in other provinces of Pakistan are at risk of arrest and deportation due to the lack of valid visas.
In a video message released on Wednesday, 24 Saratan, Takhari said that the Pakistani government has so far not extended the visas of Afghan students in Sindh. According to him, the situation has raised concerns about the legal status and continued stay of Afghan students in the country.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior had ordered that, starting from 19 Saratan, all Afghan nationals without valid Pakistani visas would be detained. The decision was described as part of Islamabad’s new measures to deal with foreign nationals lacking legal documentation.
According to sources, Pakistani security forces have intensified the detention and deportation of Afghan migrants in recent years, including journalists and students. A source in Pakistan said that a number of Afghan journalists and students without valid residency documents are currently being held in detention in Islamabad.
Sources told Afghanistan International on Tuesday that Pakistani police had detained 13 Afghan doctors and one medical student in Multan, Punjab province, and transferred them to a deportation centre. According to these sources, the individuals had applied for visa extensions approximately one year ago but had not yet received any response from Pakistani authorities.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation also announced last week that Pakistan had deported a number of Afghan doctors to Afghanistan after they completed their detention period.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), following the recent decision by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, called on the Pakistani government to refrain from deporting Afghans at risk and to review their cases while taking humanitarian considerations into account.
International organisations have repeatedly warned that the return of certain Afghan nationals including journalists, former government employees, former security personnel, and women’s rights activists to Afghanistan under Taliban rule could expose them to serious risks.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
