In the 40 years since he fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, Najmuddin Torjan had been living illegally in Pakistan. He married there and had children, who had children of their own. All that time she felt the unease of making a life on borrowed land, apparently on borrowed time.
Last month, that time ran out. The Pakistani government abruptly declared that all undocumented foreign citizens must leave by November 1. Fearing arrest or imprisonment, his family packed everything: clothes, pots, pans. The wooden beams of its ceiling. Metal window frames and rusty doors.
Later, they boarded a truck and joined a stream of Afghan migrants heading to the border.
“I did my best in these 40 years to build a life,” said Torjan, 63. “Now I’m starting over from scratch.”
Torjan is one of more than 70,000 Afghans who have returned home from Pakistan in recent weeks, according to Pakistani authorities. The deportation order, largely seen as directed against Afghans, It is considered a sign of growing hostility between the Government of Pakistan and Taliban authorities in Afghanistan regarding militants operating in both countries.
Landlords have suddenly evicted Afghan tenants for fear of large fines. Employers have fired undocumented Afghan workers. The police have carried out raids in the neighborhoods and arrested those who lacked documents.
There are 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in Pakistan.
Human rights groups have condemned Pakistan, concerned that some Afghans could face persecution in Afghanistan for past links to Taliban opponents. But Pakistani officials recently stated that the deadline would not be extended and that they have set up several deportation centers in the country.
“Those who leave the country voluntarily would have fewer difficulties than those trapped by the state,” Sarfraz Bugti, Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister, said on October 26.
Afghans have flooded border crossings in recent weeks, overwhelming authorities and aid groups. About 4 thousand people have been repatriated every day; That’s more than 10 times the number before the deportation policy was announced, several aid groups report.
Taliban officials say they have established a high commission to provide basic services to returning Afghans and plan to set up temporary camps to house them. Many Afghans say that provides little comfort.
Khan Afzal Wafadar, then 15, left Afghanistan with his family eight years ago. Last month, his boss in Pakistan told him to file legal immigration papers or leave the brick factory where he worked. Wafadar, now 23, is worried about finding work in Afghanistan, where unemployment has soared since the US-backed government collapsed.
“There is a Pashtun proverb: ‘If your bed belongs to someone else, they have the power to take it away from you in the middle of the night,’” he said. “It’s your country; “They can kick us out at any time.”
By: CHRISTINA GOLDBAUM and SAFIULLAH PADSHAH
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6965048, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-11-01 21:50:06
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