Taliban in Afghanistan: Why are 'refugees' Afghan people not going to Pakistan?
Rakhshanda is a physician, her spouse an Afghan police officer. She moved to Pakistan with her 3 kids over the Chaman border when the Taliban took over Kabul. He has a passport in Afghanistan but no visa in Pakistan and is now concerned about his position in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, previously hosting the highest number of migrants in the world, declares that his nation can no longer afford to welcome any more Afghan refugees.
On the other side, the Pakistani Government says that 3 million Afghan refugees, half of whom are not registered, are already accommodated.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan is 1.4 million; Afghan citizenship cards have been given to 880,000 Afghans, indicating that they are Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan whereas Afghans are four- or five million. No registrations of any sort are available.
Pakistan's National Security Consultant Dr. Moeed Yousaf said 20,000 to 25,000 Afghans arrived in Pakistan every day from Afghanistan, while Interior Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed said there was no Afghan refugee in Pakistan thus far.
Who declared refugees to be foreigners?
The Geneva Convention for Refugees exists to define who a refugee is and who is not, and what are the privileges of the host country and the obligations of the host country to determine international law. The legislation pertained initially to refugees who were afflicted by World War II, but its reach was expanded by the Protocol of 1967 to include the border and residents of all nations.
The Convention makes it the host country's duty to determine whether or not to provide refuge to a foreigner entering its territory. At present, 149 nations are members of either or one of the conventions worldwide.
However, the Convention has not been signed by Pakistan, thus it does not apply to Pakistan. The Geneva Convention on Refugees has 51 nations worldwide, including Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and it is the duty of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to designate aliens 'refugees' in these countries. It is done with the host nation in consultation.
What is Pakistan's status as Afghan citizens?
Home Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed claims that Pakistan has not registered as a refugee a single Afghan person since Kabul has been taken over by the Taliban. He could not, however, predict if Pakistan would do so in the coming years.
When questioned about the status of Afghan nationals who travel to Pakistan, Sheik Rashid stated they were not refugees from Afghanistan but Afghans who come to Pakistan for trading, employment, education, and treatment.
Qaisar Afridi, spokesperson for the Un Un Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Pakistan has nonetheless said that it was the UN's duty to label Afghan people refugees in Pakistan, although in the past it has contacted the Government of Pakistan. What was happening later.