ISLAMABAD: Over 650,000 Afghans living in Pakistan have been repatriated to their home country since the government launched a deportation drive last year, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Monday, with at least 15,727 expelled in the last two weeks.
Until November before it began the deportation drive, Pakistan was home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom were undocumented. Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The expulsion drive was launched after a spike in suicide bombings since last year which the Pakistan government — without providing evidence — says mostly involves Afghans. Islamabad has also blamed them for smuggling and other militant violence and crime. At the time, cash-strapped Pakistan, navigating record inflation and a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program, also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.
Islamabad insists the deportation drive is not aimed specifically at Afghans but all those living illegally in Pakistan.
“According to the latest statistics, 15,727 Afghans returned to their country over the last two weeks,” Radio Pakistan said on Monday. ” With this, the figure of Afghan returnees has reached 653,154.”
Last week, the South Asian state decided to extend by a year the deadline of UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration (PoR) cards given to almost 1.5 million Afghans after the UN refugee commissioner asked for a pause in the country’s plan to repatriate refugees.
In October 2023, Pakistan announced phase one of the ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’ with a 30-day deadline for “undocumented” aliens to leave the country or be subject to deportation, putting 1.4 million Afghan refugees at risk.
In phase two of the ‘repatriation plan,’ around 600,00 Afghans who hold Pakistan-issued Afghan citizenship cards (ACCs) will be expelled while phase three is expected to target those with UNHCR-issued PoR cards.
The deportation drive has led to a spike in tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s crackdown on undocumented migrants has also drawn sweeping criticism from the United Nations, aid agencies and human rights groups.
Over 650,000 ‘illegal’ Afghans expelled from Pakistan since deportation drive began last year
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Over 650,000 ‘illegal’ Afghans expelled from Pakistan since deportation drive began last year
- 15,727 Afghan nationals returned to Afghanistan in last two weeks, Radio Pakistan says
- Islamabad accuses Afghans of being behind spate of recent militant attacks in Pakistan
Bangladesh looks to Shakib to ‘do something special’ against pace-heavy Pakistan
- Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain says Shakib Al Hasan is a professional cricketer and knows his role
- Pakistan has an impressive test record against Bangladesh, winning all but one of the 13 matches
RAWALPINDI: Bangladesh is pinning its hopes on all-rounder and former lawmaker Shakib Al Hasan to “do something special” against pace-heavy Pakistan in the opening test of the two-match series, starting Wednesday.
“(Shakib) played this game for so long, so he knows his role,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said on the eve of the first test match at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
“He knows how to prepare himself, so I am not thinking about his political career and I hope he will do something special in this series. He’s a professional cricketer and we all treat him as a cricketer, to be very honest.”
Bangladesh’s most accomplished all-rounder, spin great Shakib was playing in the T20 league in Canada during political turmoil in his country back home.
The unrest hampered preparations and Bangladesh flew to Pakistan four days ahead of schedule to get an additional three days of training in Lahore.
Rawalpindi will host both the test matches.
The series is part of the World Test Championship in which Pakistan is languishing at No. 6 spot while Bangladesh is at No. 8, above last-place West Indies.
Pakistan has an impressive test record against Bangladesh, winning all but one of the 13 matches. The teams drew at Khulna in Bangladesh in 2015.
Shanto said it won’t be easy for Bangladesh against a four-pronged pace Pakistan pace attack, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. And Pakistan pacers have happy memories of Rawalpindi. Four years ago, a hat trick from Shah helped Pakistan to inflict a crushing innings and 44 runs defeat on Bangladesh.
Shanto, who was among Shah’s hat-trick wickets in that 2020 test, said “it’s not going to be easy,” but remained hopeful.
“We have a very good balanced side and we believe we can do some special things this time,” he said Tuesday.
The series will be the first test for Pakistan’s new red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie of Australia. Pakistan was swept 3-0 by Australia in the last test series it played eight months ago. That was also Shan Masood’s debut test series as Pakistan captain.
“There were some mistakes that we made that cost us probably the Melbourne and Sydney test matches,” Masood said. “But as a team, we were heading in the right direction, so that’s something that we’ll take with us.”
Masood said results in the domestic matches at Rawalpindi have encouraged him to go with all-out pace attack that also features fast bowlers Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali in the playing XI.
“You have to be very flexible and you have to adapt and adopt different conditions,” Masood said. “I feel in Rawalpindi … the conditions have favored the seamers and the batters, spin bowling hasn’t been such a big threat.”
Pakistani security forces kill three separatist militants in southwestern Balochistan
- The incident occurred in Mastung where the security forces took action against Balochistan Liberation Army
- Military says the BLA militants were involved in the assassination of Panjgur’s deputy commissioner on Aug. 12
ISLAMABAD: Security forces in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province killed three militants belonging to a separatist organization and injured three others, according to a statement issued by the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in Mastung district, where the security forces launched an intelligence-based operation against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which seeks independence for the province, citing alleged exploitation and marginalization of its residents by the federal government, a claim the Pakistani state denies.
The BLA has been involved in numerous attacks against Pakistani security forces and infrastructure and is designated as a terrorist organization by Pakistan and other countries.
“On [the night between] 18/19 August 2024, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in Mastung District,” the ISPR said in an official statement, adding “three terrorists of BLA” were killed after intense fire exchange while three others were injured.
“These terrorists were involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area and were also responsible for shahadat [martyrdom] of Deputy Commissioner of Panjgur, Mr. Zakir Ali, on 12 August 2024,” it continued, referring to Ali’s killing while he was traveling on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his vehicle.
The ISPR said the operation against the BLA separatists had avenged the “heinous act,” bringing its perpetrators to justice.
The statement added Pakistani security forces are determined to prevent any attempt to sabotage Balochistan’s peace, stability and progress.
Balochistan is considered a region of significant strategic importance by successive governments in Islamabad.
Pakistan, in collaboration with China, is heavily invested in developing Balochistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The initiative includes the development of Gwadar Port, which is set to become a major hub for trade and industry.
Additionally, the Gwadar Free Zone and other infrastructure projects aim to create a massive industrial zone, enhancing regional connectivity and promising employment opportunities for the local population.
Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry into monsoon child brides
- After floods in 2022, rights workers warned that child weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity
- In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages in Sindh
KARACHI: A Pakistan provincial government has ordered an inquiry into child marriages in areas affected by floods in 2022 following an exclusive AFP story on the subject.
Pakistan’s high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022 rights workers warned that such weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.
In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages hard hit by the floods in Sindh province.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry into the matter, his spokesman Rasheed Channa told AFP.
“The Chief Minister wants to understand the social impact of the rains on the people of this area. After the report is submitted, he will visit the area and generate recommendations.
“My personal opinion is that there has always been this tradition of early marriages, but the floods have made people very desperate.”
In the village of Khan Mohammad Mallah, 45 underage girls have been married since last year’s monsoon rains — 15 of them in May and June this year, the NGO Sujag Sansar told AFP.
The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.
“This has led to a new trend of ‘monsoon brides’,” said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.
Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.
“Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area,” 65-year-old village elder Mai Hajjani told AFP.
Pakistan reaffirms ‘unwavering support’ for Palestinian right to self-determination
- Pakistan does not recognize nor have any diplomatic relations with Israel
- Islamabad calls for independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as capital
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met outgoing Ambassador of Palestine, Ahmed Jawad A.A. Rabei, and reaffirmed the South Asian nation’s “unwavering support” for the people of Palestine and their right to self-determination as war rages in Gaza.
The current war in the Palestinian enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military has since levelled swathes of the Gaza strip, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
“The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “He strongly condemned Israel’s barbaric actions against innocent Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023 that had led to the heart wrenching killing of over 40000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children, and more than 90000 injured.”
Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s “strong commitment and support” for efforts to find a “just and lasting resolution” of the Palestine issue through a two-state solution with the creation of an independent state of Palestine.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The South Asian country has also dispatched several humanitarian aid consignments for Palestinians.
Pakistan, Bangladesh gear up for first Test match in Rawalpindi tomorrow
- Fast bowling is strength of Green Shirts, captain Shan Masood says ahead of game
- Visitors Bangladesh will be hoping to overturn their no-win record against Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The first Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh is set to begin in Rawalpindi city tomorrow, Wednesday, with Pakistan Test Captain Shan Masood advising his team to focus on its strength, which is fast bowling.
The first Test match will commence on Aug. 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The second will start on Aug. 30 at the same venue.
Bangladesh will be hoping to overturn their no-win record against Pakistan, having lost 12 of the last 13 Tests, with just one draw.
Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, Masood expressed hope to win both matches.
“Our focus is on our strengths and fast bowling is Pakistan’s strength,” the cricketer said.
Having released their only spinner, Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan will enter the Test with an all-pace attack — a ploy they last used five years ago against Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Following a 3-0 rout in Australia earlier this year, Pakistan brought in former Aussie paceman Jason Gillespie as Test coach, while Adelaide groundsman Damien Hough was hired to improve the standard of pitches.
Masood said even though the Green Shirts lost the Test series against Australia, “there were lot of things we did right in Australia and things we need to take forward.”
When asked about the conditions of the Rawalpindi cricket stadium, Masood said cricketers needed to be flexible as a Test-playing team but conditions at Rawalpindi favored batters and seamers.
Bangladesh begin a two-Test series in Pakistan this week with their preparations severely hampered by the political turmoil that has wracked the country. Unrest that led to the overthrow of prime minister Sheikh Hasina kept the team’s foreign coaches indoors, strictly following adviseries from their embassies, while mass protests stopped the team from assembling for practice sessions.
The make-up of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is also up in the air, after president Nazmul Hassan fled the country due to his association with Hasina.
The two-match Test series is part of the World Test Championship’s third cycle, with Pakistan sixth in the current nine-team table and Bangladesh eighth.
Teams:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed
