Taliban Expresses Serious Worry About US Plans to Repatriate Afghans via Pakistan
The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan expressed worry Monday about reported U.S. plans to deport dozens of Afghan immigrants to Pakistan, with a view to their ultimate return to their homeland.
More than 150 Afghan nationals in the United States would be returned to Afghanistan via Pakistan, including relatives of individuals who helped U.S. forces before their exit in 2021, U.S. media outlets and an advocacy organization said. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its deep concern over reports that the United States is planning to deport some Afghan refugees to Pakistan who have not yet been able to obtain legal residency documents in that country,” a statement from foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said.
Advocacy groups have warned that erstwhile allies and their families are in life-threatening danger if they are deported. However, the United Nations has documented reports of extra-judicial deaths, detentions and mistreatment.
Last year President Donald Trump’s administration imposed travel bans on many nations including Afghanistan as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown.
His government acted to roll back deportation safeguards for Afghans, including individuals who received special immigration visas when the Taliban took power in 2021.
AfghanEvac, a nonprofit trying to rescue former Afghan allies, said among those expected to be deported are relatives of Afghans who worked with the US forces in the nation before the fall of Kabul.
The US cannot facilitate deportations to Afghanistan directly, but anonymous US officials told The New York Times that Pakistan will handle their deportation to Afghanistan.
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