WASHINGTON: A bunch of former high US officers and US resettlement organizations on Tuesday urged Pakistan to exempt from deportation to Afghanistan 1000’s of Afghan candidates for particular US visas or refugee relocation to the US.
Pakistan has set a Nov 1. deadline for all unlawful immigrants, together with tons of of 1000’s of Afghans, to depart the nation or face forcible expulsion.
Some 20,000 or extra Afghans who fled the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan are in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their purposes for US Particular Immigration Visas (SIVs) or resettlement in the US as refugees.
“To deport them again to an surroundings the place their lives can be in jeopardy runs counter to humanitarian rules and worldwide accords” signed by Pakistan, mentioned an open letter despatched to the Pakistani embassy signed by 80 former senior US officers, different people and US resettlement teams.
They included Colin Kahl, the No. 3 Pentagon official till July, three former US ambassadors to Kabul and two retired US generals.
The letter was organized by #AfghanEvac, the primary coalition of US teams working to resettle in the US Afghans who worry retaliation for working for the US authorities or US-linked organizations through the 20-year American battle with the Taliban.
These in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their purposes for SIVs or refugee resettlement embody former translators, journalists, girls activists and “different professionals who face vital dangers” in the event that they return dwelling, the letter mentioned.
The signatories urged Pakistan to right away halt deportations of these Afghans and “at a minimal” exempt them from detention or deportation.
Pakistan says the deportation course of can be orderly and carried out in phases and will start with folks with felony information.
Some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan don’t have any authorized paperwork, based on Islamabad, which alleged that Afghan nationals carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings this 12 months.
Pakistan has set a Nov 1. deadline for all unlawful immigrants, together with tons of of 1000’s of Afghans, to depart the nation or face forcible expulsion.
Some 20,000 or extra Afghans who fled the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan are in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their purposes for US Particular Immigration Visas (SIVs) or resettlement in the US as refugees.
“To deport them again to an surroundings the place their lives can be in jeopardy runs counter to humanitarian rules and worldwide accords” signed by Pakistan, mentioned an open letter despatched to the Pakistani embassy signed by 80 former senior US officers, different people and US resettlement teams.
They included Colin Kahl, the No. 3 Pentagon official till July, three former US ambassadors to Kabul and two retired US generals.
The letter was organized by #AfghanEvac, the primary coalition of US teams working to resettle in the US Afghans who worry retaliation for working for the US authorities or US-linked organizations through the 20-year American battle with the Taliban.
These in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their purposes for SIVs or refugee resettlement embody former translators, journalists, girls activists and “different professionals who face vital dangers” in the event that they return dwelling, the letter mentioned.
The signatories urged Pakistan to right away halt deportations of these Afghans and “at a minimal” exempt them from detention or deportation.
Pakistan says the deportation course of can be orderly and carried out in phases and will start with folks with felony information.
Some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan don’t have any authorized paperwork, based on Islamabad, which alleged that Afghan nationals carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings this 12 months.
