Afghan govt must come clean about the future of Afghans in Pakistan

The ‘forced repatriation’ of Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders, with over 150 so far detained as part of the government’s policy to deport all undocumented foreign nationals, has begun in Karachi.

An estimated 850,000 ACC holders are in the country who received their cards in 2017. Of them, 70,000 were reportedly living in Karachi. However, the Amnesty International has warned that Afghans seeking refuge in Pakistan after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 are particularly at risk, including Afghan women and girls, journalists, human rights defenders, women protestors, artists, and former Afghan government and security officials.

There can be no doubt about the fact that Amnesty International is a credible source. Therefore, the point raised by it needs serious consideration.

However, having said that, I believe it will be imperative to seek the attention of this newspaper to the meeting that took place between Pakistani and Afghan officials in Kabul on March 20.

In that meeting, Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had reportedly asked Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq in Kabul on March 22 or less than a month ago that the Pakistani government must give more time to the ACC holders as repatriation of so many people could create difficulties for the government in Kabul.

My question is why would Muttaqi ask Pakistan to delay or postpone the return of ACC holders many of whom are “wanted” by the regime to be prosecuted for whatever reasons? Or, the economic and political conditions in Afghanistan are so dire that the return of the “wanted” people to Afghanistan is no longer desirable? The Afghan government, in my view, must tell the whole truth without any further loss of time.

Naqeebullah Ghilzai (Quetta)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025