Ahmed stuck in visa limbo: "Have been here 700 days"
Afghans who are in Pakistan after the Taliban's takeover and are waiting to be evacuated to the West have ended up in "visa limbo", writes AFP.
Tens of thousands of people have been promised asylum in third countries but have remained - and many visas are not renewed in time due to delays in the registration system.
Ahmed worked as an interpreter for the British military in Afghanistan. Now he is stuck in a hotel room in Islamabad paid for by Britain's diplomatic mission. His visa expired a year ago.
- I have been here more than 700 days, says the 32-year-old bitterly to the news agency.
- When I text my manager, he says "be patient, be patient, be patient".
Ahmed fears that Pakistan will send him home in the nationwide campaign launched against undocumented Afghans. This despite the country promising that people in his situation should not suffer.
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HRW: Pakistani abuses against Afghan refugees
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch sounds the alarm that Pakistani authorities have committed abuses against Afghans who are in the country. The abuses are seen as an attempt to force the refugees out of the country.
The state-run American radio network Voice of America writes that police officers in Pakistan are accused of, among other things, carrying out illegal arrests and subjecting Afghans to sexual harassment. In addition, some refugees are said to have had their ID documents destroyed.
The persecution of Afghans is part of the campaign launched by Pakistan to deport 1.7 million of them.
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The goal in Pakistan: Deport 10,000 Afghans per day
The Pakistani province of Baluchistan has set a goal of arresting and deporting 10,000 Afghans every day who are in the country illegally. This is reported by AP.
In October, Pakistani authorities announced that 1.7 million undocumented Afghans would be deported, and since then 400,000 people have been sent back. But many people have gone underground or gone to remote parts of the country to avoid arrest, and a sudden drop in the number being deported has prompted the order to crack down.
Police officers reportedly go door-to-door to check Afghan immigrants' papers. Pakistani authorities have stated that Afghans who are registered as refugees are not at risk of arrest.
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