Pakistan Supreme Court begins hearing petition challenging deportation of Afghan refugees

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday (Dec 1) began hearing a petition from rights activists demanding to stop the deportation of Afghan refugees, reported Reuters, citing a lawyer. This comes at a time when authorities are combing refugee settlements to find and deport thousands of Afghans who fled their country after the Taliban takeover.

On October 1, Pakistan said that it would expel more than a million undocumented refugees in the country. Most of these are Afghans. Since the announcement, about 370,000 Afghans have fled from Pakistan.

Pakistan has been maintaining that anti-Pakistan militants were among the undocumented refugees and they receive help from terror apparatus inside Afghanistan.

"Due to the urgency, as thousands of people are suffering on daily basis, I've requested the court to take up the case as early as next week," Umar Ijaz Gilani, a lawyer representing the rights activists was quoted as saying by Reuters.

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Gilani said that a three-judge panel heard the case and asked the government, the interior ministry and the foreign ministry in addition to a panel comprising government and top military officials to furnish an explanation.

Thousands of people fled Afghanistan to escape persecution after the Taliban seized power in the country following a chaotic and hasty retreat by US-led Western forces in 2021. Now, the refugees have gone underground in Pakistan to escape deportation as they still fear for their lives on their return to Afghanistan.

Gilani argued that children born to Afghan families in Pakistan cannot be sent back because of their birthright.

He further said that the petition that was heard on Friday was separate from another one that was exclusively focused on seeking Pakistani citizenship for such children.  guaranteed by the country's constitution.

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There are more than 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees in Pakistan. 1.7 million of these are undocumented.

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Despite calls from international bodies and refugee agencies to reconsider its deportation plans, Pakistan has continued conducting door-to-door searches in refugee settlements for people who have not left voluntarily.

According to Reuters, Pakistan is home to more than 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom are undocumented.

(With inputs from agencies)