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Pakistan gives 1.7 million Afghan refugees a month to leave the country

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Pakistan’s caretaker government has given all undocumented refugees, including 1.7 million from Afghanistan, until November 1 to leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

Sarfraz Bugti, acting Minister of Interior of Pakistan, said: "Since January, 24 suicide attacks have taken place, including 14 suicide attacks by Afghan nationals. It is known to you that the leadership of the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) has issued a fatwa [decree] and apparently this fatwa is not respected either. We respect the leadership of the Afghan Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) and we ask them to respect the fatwa and it should be acted upon, and we wonder why it is not acted upon, so we are being attacked by the Afghans, and they are involved in the attacks.”

In reaction to Pakistan’s decision the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate says that inappropriate treatment of Afghan immigrants in Pakistan is not acceptable. He said Pakistan should reconsider its plan in this regard.

Zabihullah Mujahid says that Afghan immigrants are not involved in the country's security problems. Mujahid added that as long as the Afghan immigrants leave Pakistan on their own accord, the Pakistani government should be patient.

In a video that has been circulating on social media, it can be seen that the Pakistani police are imprisoning Afghan women and children.

This kind of treatment of Pakistani forces with Afghan immigrants has angered Kabul.

"We have used all the legal means, we have talked to the Pakistani authorities, and the delegation that came last week was very serious, [we] shared this matter, and the matter is being followed up through the embassy every day, and we have also used international channels that migrants should be treated humanely; putting pressure on migrants is not the solution, and the accusations against Afghan migrants in Pakistan are also false, and we also ask international institutions to take legal action in this regard.

“And we also ask the international institutions to pay attention to the accepted rights of the immigrants and Pakistan should not expel the immigrants by force,” said Mujahid.

This comes after the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said Tuesday that despite discussions about the refugees, Pakistan continues to arrest and harass Afghans in the country. A number of Afghans have also been killed under suspicious circumstances. In the past few days, the bodies of four Afghans have been found.

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad said Pakistani police are also arresting documented Afghans.

Meanwhile, a delegation that went from Kabul to investigate the situation of migrants at Torkham crossing said in a press conference on Wednesday that since the IEA returned to power, over 100,000 Afghan migrants have returned to the country through Torkham crossing.

The members of this delegation said the Islamic Emirate is trying to provide the necessary facilities for migrants who return from different countries.

Amid an increase in deportations from Iran and Pakistan, a delegation has been mandated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul to investigate the situation at five border crossings in the country.

Fazal Bari Fazli, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of the Islamic Emirate said that the Islamic Emirate plans to create a temporary camp for those who enter the country from Pakistan.

The members of this delegation say that one of the reasons Pakistan is deporting Afghans is because of upcoming elections. This delegation is made up of representatives from the ministries of immigrants and returnees, agriculture and livestock, rural development, public health, Afghan Red Crescent, and also the disaster management ministry.

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Eight Afghan migrants die as boat capsizes off Greek island

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Eight Afghan migrants died after a speedboat carrying migrants capsized off Greece's eastern island of Rhodes on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

Greek authorities said that the capsizing was the result of the boat’s maneuvering to evade a patrol vessel.

A total of 18 migrants — 12 men, three women and three minors — all Afghan nationals, were rescued, Greece's coast guard said Saturday. The dead were also from Afghanistan, it said.

Some migrants remained hospitalized, with one in critical condition, authorities said.

Two Turkish citizens, ages 23 and 19, were arrested as the suspected traffickers. The boat sank after capsizing, the coast guard said.

The sinking off Rhodes was the second deadly incident involving migrants in the past week.

Seven migrants were killed and dozens were believed missing after a boat partially sank south of the island of Crete over the weekend — one of four rescue operations during which more than 200 migrants were rescued.

 

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Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires meets with IEA deputy foreign minister

Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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The Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Per Albert Ilsaas, on Saturday met with IEA’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanikzai, in Kabul.

Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In addition to focusing on bilateral political, humanitarian, and other pertinent issues, the two sides expressed hope that continued engagement would lead to constructive solutions to related issues.

This comes two weeks after the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi expressed disappointment regarding the decision by the Norwegian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

Balkhi said in a post on X that such decisions should not be linked with internal affairs of other countries.

“Diplomatic engagement is most effective when it fosters mutual understanding and respect, even amidst differing viewpoints,” he stated.

“Access to consular services is a fundamental right of all nationals. We strongly urge all parties to prioritize this principle in the spirit of international cooperation,” he added.

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A new polio vaccination campaign is set to launch in Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.

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The “Afghanistan Polio-Free” organization announced that a new round of polio vaccinations will begin on Monday, December 23, in various provinces of Afghanistan.

The organization did not specify which provinces will be targeted or how long the vaccination campaign will last.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.

On December 4, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement reporting a 283% increase in polio cases in Afghanistan. According to the WHO, the number of positive environmental samples for wild poliovirus type 1 in Afghanistan in 2024 reached 84, compared to 62 cases in 2023.

The Ministry of Public Health claimed in November 2024 that no new cases of polio had been reported in Afghanistan for the year.

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