Pakistan speeds up expulsion of Afghan refugees amid tensions with Taliban
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Pakistan speeds up expulsion of Afghan refugees amid tensions with Taliban
"Pakistan announced it would close all 54 Afghan refugee villages across the country as part of the campaign it began in 2023 to push out what it calls illegal foreigners. These include the villages in Kohat, where Meer and his family live. How can I uproot everything when we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried our loved ones here?"
"Amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, which returned to governing Afghanistan in 2021, families like Meer's are caught in a vortex of uncertainty. Fighting erupted between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border earlier in October, pushing already strained relations into open hostility. On Sunday, officials from both sides met in Qatar's capital, Doha, and signed a ceasefire agreement, with the next round of talks scheduled in Istanbul on October 25."
Pakistan announced the closure of all 54 Afghan refugee villages as part of a 2023 campaign to expel what it calls illegal foreigners. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees face the threat of return, including families born and raised in Pakistan for generations. Fighting erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in October, sharply escalating tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban government. A ceasefire was signed in Doha and further talks were scheduled in Istanbul, but uncertainty and high tensions persist. Refugee families fear becoming diplomatic pawns and face deep uncertainty about uprooting their established lives.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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