Pakistan’s federal government has approved its interior ministry’s plan to deport Afghan refugees, CNN-News18 has learnt. Officials alleged that Afghan refugees were involved in terrorist activities, smuggling, dollar hawala and hundi operations.
Almost 1 million of these refugees will be deported in the first phase, sources told CNN-News18.
Pakistan has banned the visa renewals of Afghan refugees who are residing illegally, they added.
This will create more tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan following skirmishes at the border, the sources said.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. It governs the entry and presence of refugees under the country’s Foreigner’s Act, which allows authorities to apprehend, detain, and expel foreigners, including refugees and asylum seekers lacking proper documentation.
The Afghanistan government recently raised serious questions about the security of its people in Pakistan after a video on social media showed an Afghan national being beaten badly by Punjab province police.
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