Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Pakistan to instantly withdraw its && Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan & , which mainly targets Afghan refugees, ahead of the authorities& & 31 March deadline.Pakistani federal government has actually asked all && illegal immigrants& & and Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave the country before March 31, cautioning they would otherwise be deported from April 1.
Amnesty International stated that all Afghan nationals are required to leave the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi by 31 MarchIt said that && arbitrarily and by force expelling Afghan nationals, consisting of refugees and asylum applicants, will just contribute to their predicament&& .
& The Pakistani government & 's unyielding and terrible due date, which is less than a week away, to remove Afghan refugees and asylum candidates from two major cities, resulting in the deportation of many at risk, shows little respect for international human rights law, especially the principle of non-refoulement,& & stated Isabelle Lassée, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.The specific details of the Pakistan government&& 's Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan& & used for deportations has actually never ever been made public, but it comes amid a campaign to wrongfully demonize Afghan nationals as so-called bad guys and terrorists, Amnesty said.Isabelle Lassée stated that the Pakistani federal government is only making && a scapegoat of a neighborhood that has actually long been disenfranchised and getting away persecution.&& Human rights attorney Moniza Kakar mentioned that forcing Afghan refugees to move even within Pakistan is devastating for families.
&& Many PoR card holders are people who&& 've been here for years, inquiring to move ways you&& 're inquiring to leave homes, services, communities and lives they&& 've constructed for years,& & she said.
Lawyer Umer Gillani, who has challenged the deportation orders in Pakistan&& 's Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court, argued that the March 31 deadline was not legally enforceable.
&& The main alert has not been issued under any particular law; it is simply an executive guideline,& & he stated.Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported a sharp decrease in Afghan returns and deportations throughout the first half of March.
Between March 1 and 15, returns dropped by 67 per cent, while deportations fell by 50 percent compared to the previous reporting period (February 16-28).
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