American actress Angelina Jolie has expressed her deep concern and sadness over the mass expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Jolie slammed Pakistan for the unexpected decision to send back vulnerable Afghan families, confronting the hard reality of survival in today’s Afghanistan.
Jolie emphasized Pakistan’s long history of supporting Afghan refugee families. She lamented the sudden expulsion, especially in light of Afghanistan’s current catastrophic circumstances, in which women are being denied basic rights, education is becoming increasingly inaccessible, many face jail and a severe humanitarian crisis is brewing.
“Pakistan has been a supporter of many Afghan refugee families for decades. I am saddened they would so abruptly push back refugees who face the impossible realities of trying to survive in today’s Afghanistan, where women have again been deprived of all rights and the possibility of education, many are being imprisoned, and there is a deep humanitarian crisis,” she wrote.
“It is yet another example of the backsliding in human rights globally, and is a new tragedy in the long history of the suffering of Afghan people – who have experienced nothing but war and conflict and displacement for over forty years, and are being abandoned by the world after all the promises that were made of a better future for the Afghan people,” she continued
“Please, if you can, try to stay aware and informed. See the link in my bio for Afghan reporting. #Afghanistan #Pakistan.”
Meanwhile, Afghan refugees who were deported from Pakistan following Islamabad’s deadline, are struggling with cold weather amid dire conditions, TOLO News reported.
The deportees said that they were forced to leave everything behind in Pakistan and are now facing dire conditions. Pari Gul, 80, has been living in Pakistan for 40 years.
“We have spent 40 years in Pakistan. We have done farming. They have forcefully deported us. If they give us anything, we will be happy. We don’t have a house and land,” she said.
Earlier in October, Pakistan announced it would expel over 1.73 million undocumented Afghan refugees after November 1. Meanwhile, the deportees raised concerns about their situation as the weather is getting cold in many areas of Afghanistan.
“We cannot do farming and we don’t have any house. We want the Taliban to help us,” TOLO News quoted a deportee named Zahir. Taliban has prepared a terminal in Kabul’s Sarai Shamali area as a camp for the deportees. The camp has more than 50 tents and it has the capacity to hold 500 people.
“This is an emergency process. They will be staying for one or two nights in the terminal. We provide them with all facilities,” said Kabir Khil, head of the terminal.
The spokesman for the Taliban-led Kabul security department, Khalid Zadran, said that they have made preparations to help the Afghans being deported from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s decision to deport undocumented Afghan refugees has faced strong reactions from the international community.
