Forced to leave Pakistan, Afghan nationals wary of what lies ahead in Afghanistan

Afghan refugees are seen awaiting their turn to cross into Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham, Pakistan, on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)
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Updated 25 October 2023
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Forced to leave Pakistan, Afghan nationals wary of what lies ahead in Afghanistan

  • Many Afghan nationals born in Pakistan say they have never been to Afghanistan before
  • Pakistan has given illegal immigrants in the country till Nov. 1 to leave or face deportation

TORKHAM: As his family went to get their documents scanned at a center near Pakistan’s main border crossing with Afghanistan, Rehmatullah sat with their luggage inside a truck. Sipping tea and preoccupied with thoughts, he was one among many in Torkham waiting to cross the border into a land they had never called home: Afghanistan.

Hundreds of trucks carrying pieces of luggage of Afghan men, women and children were parked a few kilometers from the Torkham border in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber district.

The border has been a busy one over the past few days, with many Afghan nationals using it to cross into Afghanistan since Pakistani authorities issued an ultimatum to illegal immigrants earlier this month: leave by Nov. 1 or face deportation.




Afghan refugees are seen awaiting their turn to cross into Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham, Pakistan, on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)

That creates problems for many Afghans in Pakistan like Rehmatullah, 27, who have never been to Afghanistan. Born in Rawalpindi, he referred to Pakistan as his homeland.

“This is the first time in my life I’m going to Afghanistan, and that too because we are forced to,” he told Arab News. “Now, leaving here feels like I’m leaving my own village, my own country.”




Rehmatullah Khan, an Afghan national, stands near a truck carrying his family's luggage near Torkham,Pakistan’s main border crossing with Afghanistan on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)

Pakistan remains one of the world’s largest refugee host countries and has experienced multiple influxes of Afghan refugees. These span the period from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to the Taliban takeover in 2021, after which some 600,000 Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Before the Taliban takeover of Kabul, Pakistan was already hosting over 1.5 million Afghan refugees.

Rehmatullah’s family arrived in Pakistan around 48-49 years ago. A mechanic by profession, the Afghan national said his struggles in Pakistan have “gone to waste.”

“I have to go to Afghanistan and start a new life,” he lamented. “I have never been there before and I have no knowledge of the place.”

A recent surge in militancy and economic turmoil in Pakistan has made Islamabad wary of the presence of Afghan nationals in the country. Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said earlier this month that of the 24 suicide blasts that have taken place in Pakistan since January, 14 were conducted by Afghans.




A view of trucks lined up to cross into Afghanistan at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Torkham, Pakistan, on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)

Pakistani authorities have clarified that only illegal immigrants, those without Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) or Proof of Registration (PoR) documents, would be deported.

Rehmatullah, who neither possessed an ACC nor PoR card, said Afghan nationals who have legal documents allowing them to stay in Pakistan are also being targeted by authorities. 

“They raided people’s houses, and a couple of houses in our neighborhood,” Rehmatullah said. “They told people to evacuate and leave.

“For a person, nothing is more important than dignity, so we thought it’s better to leave with dignity.”

UN Refugee Agency spokesperson Qaiser Afridi said Afghan nationals who have PoR cards and voluntarily choose to leave Pakistan are first provided $375 per head. Later, after arriving in Afghanistan, each family is given $700 when they spend three to four months in the country.




Afghan refugees stand next to trucks carrying their luggage as they wait for their turn to to cross into Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham, Pakistan, on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)

“This is our voluntary repatriation process; this is how we facilitate the return of PoR card holders,” Afridi told Arab News. 

Afridi requested the Pakistani government to work on a “sustainable comprehensive mechanism” for Afghans who arrived in Pakistan after August 2021 and whose lives could be in danger if they returned to their country.

“Our stance is that the return should be voluntary, with dignity and with safety,” he said.

Muhammad Arif, 25, used to sell fresh fruit juices and milkshakes in the northwestern Pakistani city of Haripur. The Afghan national said he was compelled to leave after police and locals started harassing him and his family.

“The landlord told us to leave the house, claiming we didn’t have any documentation,” Arif told Arab News. “We showed the PoR cards we received in 2016.”




Muhammad Arif speaks with his brother as they wait for their turn to cross the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Torkham, Pakistan, on October 19, 2023. (AN Photo)

When he later went to Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Arif was told his card had expired. 

Rehmatullah said he tried to obtain a Pakistani identity card as he was born here, adding that he did not want an Afghan Citizen Card.

“If I have to live here in Pakistan as an Afghan, then it’s better that I return to Afghanistan,” he said.


US urges sports diplomacy between Pakistan, India following ICC Champions Trophy row

Updated 15 November 2024
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US urges sports diplomacy between Pakistan, India following ICC Champions Trophy row

  • State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel highlights the role of sports in “connecting people”
  • India has refused to travel to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy slated to be held from Feb-March next year

ISLAMABAD: US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel on Friday encouraged sports diplomacy between Pakistan and India amid a row over New Delhi’s refusal to send its cricket team to neighboring Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy.
The ICC informed Pakistan last week India had declined to play any games in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be held from Feb. 19 - March 9. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sought clarification from the ICC on the refusal.
“Bilateral relationships are certainly not something for us to get in the middle of but sports is certainly a potent and connecting force,” Patel said during a weekly press briefing. “You have seen the secretary and this department really prioritize the role that sports diplomacy has in connecting people.”
Patel added that bilateral relations between Pakistan and India ought to be discussed between the countries on their own through sports orother means. 
“At the end of the day, sports really connects so many people and is a great way for the human-to-human and people-to-people ties this administration has really prioritized,” he said.
India has not toured Pakistan since 2008 because of soured political relations between the neighbors, who play each other only in global multi-team tournaments. Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup last year but the winners India played all their matches in Sri Lanka under a “hybrid model.”
The PCB has ruled out a similar arrangement for the 2025 Champions Trophy despite the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) maintaining its stance of not sending a team to Pakistan, citing government advice.


Pakistan unveils first National Climate Finance Strategy on COP29 sidelines

Updated 55 min 43 sec ago
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Pakistan unveils first National Climate Finance Strategy on COP29 sidelines

  • Strategy aimed at mobilizing financial resources and investments for climate mitigation and adaptation
  • Pakistan is ranked 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to Global Climate Risk Index

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has unveiled its first-ever National Climate Finance Strategy (NCFS), aimed at mobilizing financial resources for climate mitigation and adaptation, Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. 
The strategy was launched by Federal Minister for Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb, and the Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Climate Change, Romina Khurshid Alam, at the Pakistan Pavilion in Baku on the sidelines of the two-week UN-led global climate conference (COP29).
“[Strategy] outlines a comprehensive framework to scale up climate-related investments, attract international funding, and strengthen domestic financial systems,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“The strategy provides a roadmap for Pakistan to systematically access climate finance from a variety of domestic and international sources, reinforcing the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and its climate resilience goals.”
Speaking on the occasion, Aurangzeb said the strategy would enable Pakistan to leverage international, domestic, and private finance to support climate resilience efforts.
The strategy prioritizes sectoral resilience and the development of climate-smart policies across key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, and urban planning, the finance minister said, adding that NCFS identified key financial instruments and channels for climate action, aiming to close the estimated $348 billion climate finance gap facing the country by 2030.
The NCFS also incorporates a new National Climate Finance Portal that will track climate finance inflows and outflows, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who spoke at a number of events at COP29 earlier this week, used the forum to highlight the need to restore confidence in the pledging process and increase climate finance for vulnerable, developing countries.
The main task for nearly 200 countries at the COP29 summit from Nov. 11-22 is to broker a deal that ensures up to trillions of dollars in financing for climate projects worldwide. 
Pakistan is ranked the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. In 2022, devastating floods killed over 1,700 people and affected over 33 million, with economic losses exceeding $30 billion. International donors pledged over $9 billion last January to aid Pakistan’s flood recovery but officials say little of the promised funds have been received so far.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit on Tuesday, Sharif said developing countries would need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or national action plans for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts defined by the Paris Agreement.
Most of the world’s climate-friendly spending so far has been skewed toward major economies such as China and the United States. Africa’s 54 countries received just 2 percent of global renewable energy investments over the last two decades.


‘Rain prayers’ to be organized across Pakistan today as toxic smog chokes cities

Updated 41 min 3 sec ago
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‘Rain prayers’ to be organized across Pakistan today as toxic smog chokes cities

  • Toxic smog has enveloped the eastern city of Lahore and 17 other districts of Punjab province since last month
  • Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality in the world on Friday, according to live readings by IQAir

ISLAMABAD: On the appeal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, special prayers for rainfall will be organized across Pakistan today, Friday, as record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, school closures and stay-at-home orders in several districts of the most populous Punjab province. 
On Friday, Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to live readings by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company.

A man rides his motorbike along a street engulfed in smog in Lahore on November 14, 2024. (AFP)

On Thursday, Sharif appealed to the nation to perform Istisqa prayers, a special Islamic ritual performed to seek rain, primarily during times of drought or severe water shortages.
“Salat Al-Istisqa for rain will be offered across the country today [Friday] on the appeal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the nation,” Radio Pakistan reported, saying Sharif had urged religious scholars and prayer leaders to play their role in organizing the special ritual. 

Commuters move along a road amid heavy smoggy conditions in Peshawar on November 11, 2024. (AFP)

Earlier this week, the government of Punjab closed all high schools in the province until Nov. 17 due to persisting smog. 
Primary schools and government offices had already been closed until Nov. 17 in many districts of Punjab earlier this month, with school closures likely to affect the education of more than 20 million students, according to associations representing private and government schools.

The 62-storey tower at the Bahria Icon Tower complex is seen through smog and air pollution on a morning in Karachi on November 15, 2024. (REUTERS)

Authorities in 18 districts of Punjab also closed all public parks, zoos and museums, historical places, and playgrounds for ten days last week. 
On Friday, a court in Lahore ordered the government to shut all markets after 8pm. Authorities have already banned barbecuing food without filters and ordered wedding halls to close by 10pm.
On Monday, the UN children’s agency said the health of 11 million children in Punjab province was in danger because of air pollution.


Pakistani deputy PM to attend UAE’s Sir Bani Yas Forum today

Updated 15 November 2024
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Pakistani deputy PM to attend UAE’s Sir Bani Yas Forum today

  • Three-day summit will host top decision-makers, experts for debates on regional issues
  • Ongoing war in Gaza is expected to feature prominently in discussions at Sir Bani Yas Forum

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will attend the three-day 15th Sir Bani Yas Forum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from today, Friday, the foreign office in Islamabad said, with the ongoing war in Gaza expected to be at the center of discussions. 
The three-day annual retreat will bring together top decision-makers and experts to debate pressing Middle Eastern issues such as regional peace and security and economic transformation.
“At the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will participate in the 15th Sir Bani Yas Forum being held from Nov. 15-17 in the UAE,” foreign office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.
“At the forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will engage in high-level dialogue with global leaders and experts addressing critical issues of regional security, economic cooperation and sustainable development.”
Dar will highlight Pakistan’s “strategic perspective on fostering diplomatic solutions to complex regional challenges and advancing collective prosperity,” Baloch added. 
The war in the Gaza Strip is expected to feature prominently in discussions at the Sir Bani Yas Forum. 
Israel invaded the enclave last year after Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and abducting more than 250 as hostages. Since then, the Israeli campaign has killed more than 43,500 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and destroyed much of the enclave’s infrastructure, forcing most of the 2.3 million population to move several times.
The issue was also at the center of the agenda at the recently concluded Joint Arab-Islamic Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, with Baloch welcoming the resolution adopted by the summit, which, among other issues, called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Israel and asked it to set up an independent investigation committee to investigate Israeli crimes including genocide, forced disappearances, torture and ethnic cleansing.


Pakistan restores train service from restive Balochistan province after bombing at train station

Updated 15 November 2024
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Pakistan restores train service from restive Balochistan province after bombing at train station

  • At least 24 people were killed in a bomb blast on Saturday at a railway station in the city of Quetta
  • In August, over 50 people were killed in Balochistan in militants attacks on police stations, railway lines, highways.

QUETTA: A train service between the southwestern city of Quetta and Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest resumed on Friday after being shut for four days following a deadly bombing at a railway station.
At least 24 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb blast on Saturday at a railway station in the city of Quetta in the province of Balochistan, which is grappling with a surge in strikes by separatist ethnic militants that has raised security concerns for projects aiming to develop the province’s untapped mineral resources.
Imran Hayat, Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways Quetta Division, said train operations from Balochistan to the rest of the country had been restored, with the Quetta-Peshawar bound Jaffar Express departing from Quetta Railway Station on Friday morning amid tight security at the railway station.
“We had suspended our service for four days following the threat of attacks on the train service in Balochistan,” Hayat told Arab News. 
“Today, the Quetta-Peshawar bound Jaffar Express departed from Quetta Railway Station at 9am and we have resumed service for Karachi and Chaman amid stringent security measures across the railway station.” 
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province of about 15 million people that borders Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west. The BLA is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups battling the government, saying it unfairly exploits the province’s rich gas and mineral resources. The government denies this. 
In August, over 50 people were killed in Balochistan after separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways.
The assaults in August were the most widespread in years by militants fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession for the province, home to major China-led projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine.