In a statement on Wednesday, the Taliban expressed strong disapproval of Pakistan’s plan to evict hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants, rejecting Islamabad’s allegations that Afghan citizens were responsible for security problems in Pakistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul, took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to voice his concerns. He stated, “The behavior of Pakistan towards Afghan refugees is unacceptable. Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them.”
According to the latest United Nations figures, approximately one million Afghans are registered as refugees in Pakistan, with an additional 880,000 holding legal status to remain. However, Pakistan’s caretaker government announced on Tuesday that an additional 1.73 million Afghans were residing in Pakistan without any legal status and set a November 1 deadline for them to leave or face expulsion.
Rights group Amnesty International has called on Pakistan to continue its “historic support” for Afghan refugees, urging the country to enable them to live with dignity and without the fear of deportation to Afghanistan. They also called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to expedite registration and reviews of applications from Afghans seeking international protection in Pakistan and asked Pakistan to halt its crackdown against the refugees.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated, with the two countries accusing each other of harboring militants and contributing to each other’s security problems. The recent ultimatum to Afghan migrants came after two suicide bombings in Pakistan, with one being attributed to an Afghan national. Pakistan has also accused India’s intelligence agency of involvement in these attacks.
Afghans have been migrating to Pakistan over decades of conflict, and nearly 600,000 have arrived since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021. Despite efforts by the Taliban to entice back those who left, the situation remains precarious, and many Afghan refugees fear returning to Afghanistan due to the security risks.
The deteriorating relations between the Taliban and the Pakistan government have also resulted in border clashes and the temporary closure of the main trade route between the two countries. Islamabad alleges that armed groups use Afghan soil to plan attacks inside Pakistan, a claim strongly denied by the Taliban, who argue that Pakistan’s security problems are domestically rooted.
Pakistan’s caretaker government, installed in August to guide the country through to elections expected in the coming months, has faced instability and uncertainty, allowing the military to exert more influence.
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