ISLAMABAD: In a cramped guesthouse in Islamabad, Sadiqullah Azizi, a pseudonym for a 59-year-old Afghan refugee, last week hurriedly packed what remained of his family’s belongings. His wife and children, with little choice, helped as they prepared to vacate the premises as a result of a final, devastating blow: rejection of their case for resettlement in Canada.
Azizi’s family, comprising more than a dozen members, did not come to Islamabad by choice. In August 2021, they received an email from the Canadian authorities, instructing them to travel to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport for evacuation to Canada. That email, reviewed by Arab News, represented a lifeline that has since reduced to three years of uncertainty, fear and disappointment.
Now exhausted, Azizi recounts how he started working with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2002, shortly after the US-led coalition toppled the first Taliban regime. Although Azizi and his family are not paying for their accommodation or meals, he says it’s far from sufficient.
“Our children are our top priority and none of them have attended school due to the uncertainty of our future,” Azizi told Arab News, with his voice cracking.
He was involved in construction and logistics, and provided critical support to the US, Canadian, Dutch and Australian forces in Kandahar, Uruzgan and Nangarhar from 2002 till 2013. He still has dozens of certificates and photos of himself alongside Western forces during their deployment in Afghanistan, but his accomplishments feel distant and hollow.
Fearing deportation, the 59-year-old doesn’t even allow his family to visit a nearby public park since the Pakistani authorities launched a crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals last November and has since deported nearly 700,000 people, the majority of whom were Afghans.
“Our [Pakistani] visas have also expired and it feels as though the ground is slipping from beneath my feet,” he shared.
More than 40,000 Afghans are still in Pakistan and awaiting their resettlement abroad, according to the Pakistani foreign office. Pakistan has been in talks with various Western nations to help facilitate the relocation process and the United States has already provided a list of 25,000 Afghans for resettlement. However, the pace of progress remains slow.
For families like Azizi’s, life in Islamabad is one of isolation. The guesthouse where they stay offers no sense of security or future.
Engineer Ahmed, another pseudonym for a 38-year-old father of six who worked as an interpreter for the US and allied forces in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2018, said they were only provided accommodation and meals at the guesthouse and no other essentials.
“In fact, the meals aren’t enough to fill our stomachs,” he said, adding that they had to buy essentials like baby diapers, milk and medicines from their own pockets.
Ahmed shared his family had sold nearly all of their belongings in Kabul as they had burned all bridges in the hope of resettling in Canada.
“We have nothing left, no house, car or motorcycle. Everything was sold at a very cheap rate,” he said.
Another 35-year-old Afghan refugee, who assumed the name Amin Nasiri, awaits his family’s relocation to the US.
“It’s been three years since we arrived in Islamabad. We have no freedom here. We can’t access government hospitals or even buy a SIM card because our visas have expired,” Nasiri, who worked as a warehouse employee at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul from 2009 to 2012, told Arab News.
The 35-year-old lives with another Afghan family along with his wife, three sons and a daughter as he could not secure an accommodation in his own name due to his lack of documentation.
“I don’t know how much longer it will take,” said Nasiri, whose case remains unresolved. “I’ve borrowed a lot of money from friends and my eyes are constantly on my phone, hoping for an email about my case, but that moment hasn’t come yet.”
As Azizi continued packing at his guesthouse in Islamabad, he wrestled with the thought of how to break the news to his grandchildren.
He shared that over the past three years, whenever a bus headed to the airport stopped at the guesthouse’s gate, he would hide it from his grandchildren to avoid their inevitable question: “When will it be our turn to leave?”
Arab News tried to speak with others awaiting resettlement, but most were unable to summon the strength to recount their three years in Islamabad.
Now, with an eviction notice looming, Azizi feels trapped.
“My only question is why did Canadian immigration take so long? If they had rejected my case in the early months, I would have returned to my country. I would have told the Taliban that I had gone for medical treatment and had now come back. But after three long years, I no longer know what excuse I can offer,” he said as his voice tinged with despair.
The Canadian High Commission in Islamabad refused to discuss specific immigration cases but sent an email in response to Arab News queries.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sympathizes with the people in this extremely difficult situation as we continue to process applications as quickly as possible under the circumstances,” it said.
“Security screening is a complex process involving the decision of IRCC’s Migration Officer and various security partner experts,” it added. “Individuals are normally provided with a procedural fairness letter before negative decisions are made to provide them with an opportunity to provide additional information.”
The letter pointed out that how quickly an Afghan client was processed and subsequently approved depended on a variety of factors, many of which were beyond the control of the Canadian authorities, and were often directly related to where Afghans were located.
It noted that it was difficult to finalize the applications of Afghan nationals still residing in their country, urging them to move to a third country.
Meanwhile, Azizi, who complied with a similar request and arrived in Pakistan, says the fear of returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan weighs heavily on him.
“I wonder how Western countries can speak about human rights, yet when I look at my own case, I’m left questioning what world they live in,” he said.
“I can’t return to Afghanistan because the Taliban will think I’ve been sent on another spy mission,” he added. “Pakistan isn’t offering us refuge, and with no options left, I truly wonder where on earth we can find a place to call home.”
In Pakistan, Afghan refugees face uncertain future amid resettlement rejections
https://arab.news/jb4h2
In Pakistan, Afghan refugees face uncertain future amid resettlement rejections
- More than 40,000 Afghans in Pakistan are currently awaiting their resettlement to Western countries, Pakistani foreign office says
- The United States has already provided a list of 25,000 Afghan refugees for resettlement, but the pace of progress remains slow
Committee formed to probe bomb attack on foreign diplomats in northwestern Pakistan
- One policeman was killed, three others injured in IED explosion targeting convoy of foreign diplomats in Swat last Sunday
- Two-member committee to submit report within seven days, says KP Home and Tribal Affairs department
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government announced on Wednesday it had formed a fact-finding committee to probe an attack on a convoy of foreign diplomats in northwestern Pakistan last week.
At least one policeman was killed while three others were injured in Swat’s Malam Jabba tourist resort on Sunday in a roadside bomb attack targeting a convoy of foreign diplomats. Police said the diplomats, who hailed mostly from Central Asian and European countries, were visiting Malam Jabba’s scenic spots when the incident took place. All diplomats remained unhurt and returned safely to Islamabad after the attack.
The two-member committee includes Zubair Ahmed, a grade 20 officer of KP’s Home and Tribal Affairs department and Muhammad Alam Shinwari, additional inspector-general (investigation) of the Central Police Office, Peshawar.
“The committee shall submit the report within seven days positively,” a notification from the Home and Tribal Affairs department read.
Pakistan has seen a rise in militant attacks in recent months, with many of them taking place in KP that borders Afghanistan where Islamabad says groups like the outlawed Pakistani Taliban are hiding and from where they daily target police and security forces.
Swat, known for its picturesque landscape and historic religious sites, hosts thousands of local and foreign tourists each year.
In 2007, the Pakistani Taliban seized partial control of the district before being ousted two years later in a major military operation. During this time, the militants had unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They banned woman education and destroyed nearly 200 schools for girls.
Last week, militants opened fire on a security post in KP’s South Waziristan district and killed at least six Pakistani soldiers, the military said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, including the one on the convoy of diplomats but officials in Islamabad say militants associated with the Pakistani Taliban are primarily responsible for violence in the region. Islamabad has even blamed Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers for “facilitating” anti-Pakistan militants, a charge Kabul denies.
Pakistani nurse addresses press conference, says was ‘misguided by terrorists’ to become suicide bomber
- Adeela Baloch was recently arrested in connection to alleged suicide bombing attempt
- It was unclear if she addressed the press conference freely or under pressure from authorities
ISLAMABAD: A Baloch woman recently arrested over an alleged bombing attempt addressed a government-organized press conference on Wednesday and said that she had been “misguided by terrorists” and recruited to carry out a suicide attack.
It was unclear under what circumstances Adeela Baloch addressed the press conference and whether she spoke freely or under pressure from state authorities in Balochistan, a resource-rich but impoverished province where separatist militants have been fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the region. The Pakistani government and military deny they are exploiting Balochistan and have long maintained that neighbors such as India, Afghanistan and Iran foment trouble in the remote province and support and fund the insurgency there.
Army and government officials have also referred to a Baloch ethnic rights movement that has held protests across the province in recent months as a “terrorist proxy” and rejected their allegations of a pattern of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses by security forces. The movement is being led by young people, many of them educated women. Independent experts have criticized the state for ignoring what they say are the genuine grievances of the youth of Balochistan, and warned that a heavy-handed approach toward the protests could drive more educated people toward militancy.
“The perception nowadays that Baloch women willingly carry out suicide attacks is wrong. I am an eyewitness to this, I have seen it myself, these people use blackmail,” Baloch told reporters at a press conference in Quetta where she was sat alongside Balochistan government spokesperson Farah Azeem Shah.
Baloch, who had worked at a government hospital in the district of Turbat , was reported missing by relatives on Sept. 19.
She said her job had involved helping people and saving lives but she was “misguided and led astray” by militants who convinced her to become a suicide bomber.
“I didn’t even consider that while I would lose my life in the attack, many others could also lose their lives because of me,” she added. “I realized my mistake when I went to the mountains [where militants have taken sanctuary]. There, I saw other people who had been misled, with guns in their hands.”
Adeela thanked the provincial Balochistan government for “rescuing” and saving her from militants. She did not name the group that had allegedly enlisted her or describe the target of the planned attack.
Arab News could not independently confirm her identity or verify her claims.
Last month, the outlawed separatist Balochistan Liberation Army, said a woman was among a group of its fighters who had killed more than 50 people in a series of coordinated attacks in the restive province.
In April 2022, a highly educated female suicide bomber who was a mother from a well-to-do family killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi along with their local driver. Shari Hayat Baloch, 30, was a science teacher who had a masters degree in Zoology and was planning to enroll in a second masters degree at the time she detonated explosives in her rucksack as a minivan carrying three Chinese teachers drove by, police said at the time. While studying at university in the Balochistan capital Quetta, she had been a member of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO).
In 2019, a female suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan killed at least eight people and wounded 26 more in an attack outside a local civilian hospital. In 2017, Noreen Leghari, a would-be woman suicide bomber, was taken into custody by the Pakistan army over accusations she was planning an attack on a church in the eastern city of Lahore. She was a second-year medical student.
In 2012, a woman suicide bomber targeted Pakistani religious-political leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad but he escaped unhurt in the attack.
Pakistan PM condemns Israel’s ‘catastrophic’ airstrikes on Lebanon, urges immediate ceasefire
- Shehbaz Sharif says ‘two-state solution is the only answer’ to the protracted Israel-Palestine dispute
- He discusses ‘mutually beneficial economic investments’ in a meeting with the crown prince of Kuwait
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Israel’s attack on Lebanon while interacting with the media on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly Session on Wednesday, calling the recent airstrike “catastrophic” and calling for an immediate ceasefire.
After nearly a year of war against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Stripe on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israeli cities in support of Hamas.
Israel’s offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
“The recent attack launched in Beirut is nothing but a ploy to expand this war theater, which will be catastrophic for this peace-loving world,” the prime minister told the media. “And I think we must all condemn this act on the part of Israelis.”
“Two-state solution is the only answer,” he continued. “Immediate ceasefire, immediate ceasefire, and then two-state solution. There is no other option.”
The Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on September 24 as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East and Lebanon said only Washington could help end the fighting.
Israel said Qubaisi headed the group’s missile and rocket force.
Pakistan’s foreign office also described Israel’s attack as an “act of aggression” against Lebanon that violated the UN Charter and international law.
The UN Security Council is expected to meet later today to discuss the conflict.
BILATERAL MEETING
The prime minister also met with Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, ranging from political, economic and defense cooperation to people-people exchanges.
Last year, Pakistan signed 10 multibillion-dollar agreements with Kuwait aimed at boosting cooperation in sectors such as trade, energy, information technology, labor and infrastructure development.
As part of the government’s broader engagement with the Middle East, these agreements included Pakistan’s request for greater recruitment of its workers in Kuwait, particularly in health, security and construction fields.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan expressed his desire to engage with Kuwait in mutually beneficial economic investments under the rubric of Special Investment Facilitation Council,” his office in Islamabad said in a statement issued after their meeting, referring to a hybrid civil-military body to facilitate foreign businesses.
Both leaders affirmed to closely collaborate bilaterally, as well as on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
With input from Reuters
ADB projects Pakistan’s growth at 2.8%, stresses need for robust economic reform implementation
- The bank says a well-regulated monetary policy may keep inflation to about 15% in current fiscal year
- It believes implementation of economic adjustment program is likely to support private investment
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday Pakistan’s economic growth witnessed a rebound in the last fiscal year to 2.4% and could surge up to 2.8% in the ongoing financial year, though any sustainable improvement was contingent on continued implementation of robust economic reforms.
According to the ADB’s Asian Development Outlook September 2024, an update to its flagship economic publication, Pakistan’s financial recovery was supported by higher domestic consumption from increased agriculture income and workers’ remittances.
It added that adhering to the country’s economic reform program would be critical to strengthening macroeconomic stability and the continued recovery of growth, though the downside risks remained.
“Pakistan’s economic prospects are closely tied to the steadfast and consistent implementation of policy reforms to stabilize the economy and rebuild fiscal and external buffers,” ADB Country Director for Pakistan Yong Ye said in a statement that also mentioned the projected improvement in the country’s gross domestic product.
“It is imperative that Pakistan continues to consolidate public finances, expand social spending and protection, reduce fiscal risks from state-owned enterprises, and improve the business environment to encourage growth led by the private sector,” he continued.
The ADB said the implementation of the economic adjustment program in the ongoing fiscal year was expected to support private investment that needed more favorable macroeconomic conditions, including easier access to foreign exchange, which would also benefit manufacturing and services.
However, it maintained agriculture was projected to remain slow.
The ADB also acknowledged the reduction in headline inflation that it attributed to a decline in food price inflation due to an increase in agricultural production.
It noted that a well-regulated monetary policy could keep inflation to about 15%.
Pakistan Railways expects restoration by Oct. 10 of key Balochistan bridge blown up by militants
- A senior railway official says the department has lost $143,000 in revenue due to the suspension of train service
- Baloch separatists destroyed the bridge last month in a series of coordinated attacks that killed over 50 people
QUETTA: Nearly a month after a series of coordinated attacks in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province killed over 50 people, a senior Pakistan Railways official expressed optimism on Tuesday about completing the restoration work on a key bridge destroyed by militants by October 10.
Built in 1887, the five-span bridge was the second such link constructed by the British Army at the Bolan Pass after sealing a deal with the then Khan of Kalat, Meer Khuda-e-Dad Khan, to expand the railway network to Quetta and Chaman near the Afghan border.
Dozens of armed militants from the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) carried out multiple coordinated attacks, including suicide bombings, in Lasbela, Musakhail, Kachi, Kalat and Mastung districts on August 26. The attacks coincided with the 18th death anniversary of local chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was assassinated in an army operation in 2006.
During the militant violence, BLA fighters fatally shot commuters on passenger buses, attacked the paramilitary Frontier Corps’ camp and targeted the railway infrastructure.
“As per the engineering design, October 10 is the date [set for the completion of the restoration work],” Imran Hayat, divisional superintendent of Pakistan Railways in Quetta, told Arab News. “But the secretary-chairman [the top railway official] during his recent visit directed for earlier completion of the bridge, and we are working day and night to ensure that.”
“The bridge has a very rich history,” he continued. “Many old citizens [of the province] have expressed their dismay over the incident, which has compromised the bridge.”
The railway official said the suspension of train services since last month had caused around Rs40 million ($144,000) in revenue losses.
The bridge at Bolan Pass, a strategic mountain pass that historically served as a key trade and military route connecting the subcontinent with Afghanistan and Central Asia, primarily served two important train services: the Jaffar Khan Jamali Express, which runs up to Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and the Bolan Mail, which travels between Quetta and Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.
“More than the [revenue] loss, it is about the public service obligation,” Hayat said, adding the government had not lost its “resolve to connect the people of Balochistan” with the rest of the country, noting the railway was the “ultimate travel mode for poor people.”
Baloch separatist groups have previously attacked passenger trains and railway tracks in the Bolan Pass area.
Last year in January, several passengers were injured after a bomb attack on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express overturned various carriages near Aab-e-Gum Railway Station.
Later, on October 16, six people were killed and several others wounded after a Punjab-bound passenger train was targeted by double explosions following its departure from Mach Railway Station in Balochistan.
Asked about security arrangements for passenger trains and railway installations in the restive Balochistan region, Hayat said security forces had secured the area, allowing construction work on the bridge to proceed without hindrance.
“We are a service department,” he told Arab News. “Our responsibility is to ensure people have transportation whenever they wish to travel to any part of the country. We have faith in our security forces, who have secured the area up to Rohri and Quetta.”
Pakistan’s militancy-hit Balochistan province shares borders with Iran and Afghanistan, with Baloch separatists accusing the state of exploiting the province’s natural resources, a claim denied by the government.
The southwestern province has seen an uptick in violence by Baloch separatist groups over the last seven months, with militants blocking highways and attacking passengers, particularly those from Pakistan’s populous Punjab province.
Speaking to Arab News, Muhammad Nasrullah, a resident of Mach, a small town located about 50 kilometers from Quetta, said he had to travel with his family to Layyah, a district in Punjab, by passenger bus due to the suspension of train services from Quetta.
“There is a sense of insecurity due to the current situation in Balochistan, but we are compelled to commute on public transport,” he told Arab News. “People are traveling to Punjab by passenger buses because the train service is suspended due to the attack on the bridge.”
“I urge the government to increase the number of trains from Balochistan and provide secure train service to passengers,” he added.
