Benazir Raufi stood alone in her restaurant, her employees and customers were too afraid to visit after the government announced the cancellation of residence permits for hundreds of thousands of Afghans.
Islamabad announced in early March that it would cancel the 800,000 Afghan citizenship card (ACC) – the second phase of the deportation plan, which has forced 800,000 undocumented Afghans to go on the border.
“If I’m deported, it will destroy me. Either my heart will stop or I will commit suicide.” Raufi, 45, AFP.
“Pakistan has given us our smiles, and now those smiles are taken away.”
Ten Afghan women who worked for her refused to leave their homes after being raided by police at Rawalpindi restaurant – facing deportation, banned from studying, certain jobs and visiting public places such as parks.
“No one wants to go back. The Taliban will not accept us,” said Laufi, her voice cracking.
The deadline for the government to voluntarily leave ACC holders has returned to April.
Those born in Pakistan, married to Pakistani people, or lived in the country for decades have been cancelled from the government’s residence permit.
The expulsion campaign was a result of political ties between neighboring governments as a result of a rapidly deteriorating security situation along Pakistan’s borders.
Last year was Pakistan’s deadliest year in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in the attacks (nearly half of security forces personnel).
Pakistan accused the Taliban government of failing to take root of militants in the soil of Afghanistan, an allegation the Taliban government denied.
The Taliban government has repeatedly called on Afghans to return to their country, and Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged the National Democratic advocacy Afghans not to force them.
“My daughter has no future”
“I have freedom (in Pakistan) – I can go to the park and my daughter can go to school,” Dua Safay fled when the Taliban government returned to power in 2021.
Safay added: “I or my daughter have no future in Afghanistan.”
Since the Taliban government took over, about 600,000 Afghans have crossed the border to enter Pakistan.
Over the past four decades, thousands of Afghans have traveled to Pakistan to escape a series of conflicts, including Soviet invasions, civil wars and post-9/9 American-led occupations.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s ethnic Pashtun belt is closely related to Afghan and Apghan Pashtuns.
About 1.3 million Afghanistan has a residence card issued by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) but is allowed to stay in the country, but has been banned from using cities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Kakar added: “In the past three to four days, more than 1,000 people have been transferred to detention centres, while thousands have voluntarily left Pakistan.”
They call me Pakistan’
Many families worry that authorities will be abused or extorted by authorities if detained or separated from relatives.
“If I have to go, I will cry and be heartbroken,” said Naimatullah, 43, who was born in Pakistan and has never been to Afghanistan.
“They (people) don’t even see me as Afghan – they’ll call me Pakistan. I’m a nobody.”
After the deadline, Samiullah was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and married a Pakistani woman who will be considered illegal foreigner.
The 29-year-old told AFP.
Thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan are waiting to move to Western countries and are also worried about being deported.
Western countries recommend that most people travel through Pakistan, where their shelter requires several months.
These include Samia Hamza, a 31-year-old female rights activist, currently in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
She told us: “They gave us a letter of support, but the Pakistani police did not realize it.” AFP.
“We need to live in Pakistan for another month and then we will get a Brazil visa and leave.”
