Afghan refugees facing human rights crisis in Pakistan: Where have bleeding hearts shouting Gaza slogans gone now?

Pakistan is no stranger to human rights crises, and like many others, the current one too is its own making. In October 2023, the Pakistani government announced its plan to arrest and deport hundreds of thousands of unregistered foreign nationals and migrants lacking proper documentation, with a deadline set for November 1, 2023. This decision impacts approximately 1.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, along with members of other persecuted communities, including China’s Uyghurs and Myanmar’s Rohingya. While the majority of the over 4 million Afghans residing in Pakistan have been in the country since the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 Afghans are believed to have arrived in Pakistan after the Taliban’s assumption of power in 2021. For those Afghans deeply affected by this policy change, Pakistan has been their home for decades, and they now face the prospect of imminent homelessness and loss of livelihood if compelled to leave. Furthermore, specific groups are at significant risk should they be returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. As per the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), authorities have been conducting raids and establishing deportation centers to detain individuals who do not willingly return to their country of origin. In early November 2023, it was reported that Pakistan had commenced the arrest and deportation of Afghan refugees who failed to meet the departure deadline. Amnesty International has identified 49 detention centres, also known as “holding” or “transit” centres, scattered across Pakistan. Amnesty International’s report highlights that these deportation centres operate outside the framework of a specific law and exist independently of the legal system. Shockingly, in at least seven of these detention centres, detainees are deprived of fundamental legal rights, including access to legal counsel and communication with family members. This blatant violation of the right to liberty and a fair trial raises serious concerns. Furthermore, the lack of publicly available information makes it exceedingly difficult for families to locate their loved ones caught up in this situation. Pakistan and Afghanistan have had a complicated relationship; Pakistan became a safe haven for thousands of Afghan refugees after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Later, when Zbigniew Brzezinski and other US foreign policy advisors decided that they would end the Cold War even at the cost of radicalizing and annihilating generations of Afghan youth, ISI became instrumental in bringing about that plan to fruition. The CIA played a role in coordinating the acquisition of weapons and providing initial training, but the distribution and transport of these weapons to the war zone in Afghanistan were under the control of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). John McMahon, the deputy director of the CIA, sought to limit direct CIA involvement with the mujahidin. Pakistani intelligence tended to favor Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the most militant Islamist mujahideen commanders, in part because he strongly supported the Pakistani-sponsored Islamist insurgency in Kashmir. So what has suddenly prompted Pakistan to wake up to the reality of the illegal immigrants on its soil, if it has been a phenomenon for decades? Cross-border terrorism. While Pakistan is no stranger to cross-border terrorism either; however, for a change, this time it is on the receiving end. Since the Taliban assumed control of the neighboring country in August 2021, Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in militant attacks resulting in the loss of hundreds of civilian lives and casualties among security forces. Pakistani officials assert that leaders of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its members relocated their operational bases to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover. In this new environment, they enjoy greater freedom of movement. The surge in TTP-led attacks within Pakistan has become the central source of tension between Islamabad and the de facto Taliban rulers in Kabul. There have been allegations that Afghan nationals have participated in some of the recent suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism on Pakistani soil. “During the last two years when Afghan Taliban returned to power, terrorist attacks have increased by 60% while suicide attacks increased by 500% in Pakistan. 2,267 Pakistanis have lost their lives in these attacks. We shared all the details with the Afghan interim government, but they did not take action against TTP terrorists who are living in Afghanistan and using that soil against us,” state-run Pakistan Television cited the Pakistani premier as saying. Interestingly, with lives of around 1.7 million Muslims at peril, one does not see widespread roars of Islamophobia, genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Pakistan State. There are reports of Pakistani soldiers beating up young Afghan refugee children, the Pakistani government is using threats, abuse, and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers and calls for mass deportation have instigated increased police abuse against Afghans, including harassment, assault, and arbitrary detention. Indian civil society strongly reacted to the coming up of detention centres during the Assam NRC and perhaps India also needs to achieve certain socio-economic goals before it can begin to engage in this mass exercise but the way the whole country was held ransom over CAA not too long ago was an obscene display of political demagoguery. It still remains a mystery as to how granting Indian citizenship to Pakistani or Bangladeshi refugees was detrimental to the interests of the Indian Muslims or even how a crackdown on illegal immigrants was akin to Islamophobic ethnic cleansing. Political “activists”, majority of whom were unable to tell the full form of CAA, went rampaging on the streets, even holding the national capital hostage for months at end. It does seem a little odd that people who waste no time in taking to the streets on what is happening far away in Palestine would be oblivious to the situation in neighbouring Pakistan. This is a serious human rights crisis with millions of Muslim civilian lives at stake, yet, one does not see chants of “Death to Pakistan” or “Stop Afghan Refugee Genocide” from the same crowd who will happily sacrifice an important geo-political ally over the situation in Gaza. More importantly, it makes more sense to be at constant vigilance with respect to Pakistan since history has witnessed that problems in that country eventually end up becoming India’s problems too. The writer takes special interest in history, culture and geopolitics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.