Pakistan targets Afghan refugees amid Taliban border tension

Pakistani law enforcement agencies have launched a renewed crackdown on Afghan refugees, with the aim of exerting pressure on the Taliban administration in Kabul to curb the activities of the militant network Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The intensification of the crackdown on refugees comes in response to the TTP's attacks last week on Pakistani security forces in Chitral, a border region.

Pakistan's army said 12 militants and four soldiers were killed during a gun battle in Chitral, which borders Afghanistan's Nuristan province, on September 6, with ongoing clashes between Pakistani forces and TTP militants prompting tourist evacuations.

The incident prompted Pakistan to issue a "strong protest over the incident" to the Afghan charge d'affaires in Islamabad.

How does Pakistan handle Afghan refugees?

Although Pakistan has previously detained Afghan refugees and sporadically deported them in small numbers, recent events suggest a significant escalation in these measures by Pakistani law enforcement agencies since Sunday, a day after the Chitral attack. 

Karachi, Pakistan's bustling port city, has become a focal point of the intensified crackdown.

Official statistics show that police and other law enforcement agencies have arrested around 350 Afghan refugees, including women and children, from various parts of Karachi since Sunday.

"The government has directed law enforcement agencies to arrest Afghans living illegally in Sindh and elsewhere in the country," Kamran Tessori, Sindh province's governor, told the media on Monday. 

Pakistan has not signed the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees.

The entry and presence of refugees is governed under Pakistan's Foreigners Act, which grants authorities the right to apprehend, detain and expel foreigners, including refugees and asylum-seekers, who lack valid documentation.

"The detained refugees were residing in the city without legal status," said Irfan Bahadur, a police officer in Karachi. He said the cases have been registered against them under the Foreigners Act.

In several regions of Balochistan in Pakistan's south, law enforcement agencies have also apprehended dozens of Afghan refugees, including those who entered Pakistan illegally following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, police officials in Quetta confirmed. 

Refugees caught in the crossfire

This crackdown, linked to cross-border security concerns, places Afghan refugees in a precarious situation.

Moniza Kakar, a lawyer providing legal aid to Afghan refugees in Karachi, said there have been several waves of crackdowns on refugees in the past two years, especially after relations deteriorated between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Typically, refugees without visas or legal documentation face deportation to Afghanistan, and some families resort to bribing law enforcement for their release," Kakar told DW.

She also claimed that police had also arrested those refugees who were living legally in Pakistan after confiscating their registration and Afghan citizenship cards. 

Farooq Khan, a former Afghan police officer from Kandahar province, sought refuge in Karachi two weeks before the Taliban captured Kabul in August 2021.

The recent crackdown has instilled fear in him due to his expired visa, leaving him residing illegally and vulnerable to deportation.

"I have limited my outdoor activities due to fears of arrest during the ongoing crackdown," Khan told DW.

He said he feared being forcibly returned to Afghanistan, where he could face imprisonment or worse under the Taliban administration due to his involvement with the former government.

A history of Afghan refugees in Pakistan

Pakistan has faced multiple ínfluxes of Afghan refugees, spanning the period from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan remains one of the world's largest refugee host countries, offering safety to approximately 1.3 million officially registered refugees and asylum-seekers. Ninety-nine percent are Afghans, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Additionally, an estimated 850,000 possess Afghan citizenship cards, and approximately 350,000 undocumented Afghans reside within Pakistan's borders, UNHCR data states. 

An official from Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier Regions said around 600,000 Afghan refugees arrived in Pakistan following the fall of Kabul just over two years ago.

While registered refugees are offered limited protection, undocumented Afghans are exposed to arrest, detention and deportation. 

Skepticism of refugees among locals

The arrival of Afghan refugees in Pakistan has been a growing concern for many locals. They see it as burdening the country's economy, straining its national resources and changing the demographics of their regions.

Qaiser Afridi, a UNHCR spokesperson, said the refugees' body has raised the issue of arrests and detention with the federal and Sindh governments. 

"The government and people of Pakistan have a commendable, decadeslong history of providing asylum and protection to displaced Afghans," Afridi told DW. "We urge authorities to release the arrested people."

Edited by: John Silk

Correction, September 14, 2023: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Kamran Tessori. DW apologizes for the error.