Tag: repatriation

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Taliban Demand Dignified Treatment of Afghan Refugees

PM Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund appealed Pakistan to not “expel Afghans in an undignified manner, to not harass Afghans and to give them sufficient time so that they can return in a dignified manner.”

As Pakistan announced to expel nearly 2 million Afghan refugees, Afghanistan Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund said that the action is against international laws, reported TOLO News.

PM Akhund in a video message, appealed Pakistan to not “expel Afghans in an undignified manner, to not harass Afghans and to give them sufficient time so that they can return in a dignified manner.”

“If their (Pakistan) reason is to expel undocumented migrants only, then why are they humiliating the refugees, stealing their property, and destroying their houses?” he added.

He further warned Pakistan of further consequences of the mistreatment of Afghan refugees, TOLO News reported.

“You (Pakistan) are a neighbour, you should think about the future,” he stressed.

Earlier, US National Security spokesperson John Kirby said that Washington wants to see all nations do “what they can to help refugees and asylum seekers.”

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General’s Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the UN is appealing to Pakistan to continue its protection of all “vulnerable” Afghans who sought safety in the country, reported TOLO News.

This comes as the Pakistan caretaker government announced October 31 as the deadline for Afghan refugees to leave the country.

The deadline called for nearly 2 million Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan or they will face forced deportation.

However, the decision sparked global criticisms with many human rights organizations calling on Islamabad to reverse the planned action, according to TOLO News.

Moreover, many Afghan refugees complained about mistreatment by Pakistan’s police while being deported.

Abdul Rahim Mahajar, an Afghan refugee, said, “These people are being very cruel to us. If they had given us 4 or 5 months more, we could have spent the winter here in comfort.”

“Then, God willing, we would have gone back to our country,” another Afghan refugee said.

Earlier on Friday, Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed acting Defense Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid has criticized the Pakistan caretaker government’s treatment of Afghan refugees.

Mujahid in an audio clip, called on the Pakistan government to not “be cruel to the Afghans, not seize their personal property and assets.” (ANI)

ALSO READ: Taliban to Build Shelters for Returning Afghan Refugees

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-Top News China USA

7 Chinese charged over forced repatriation campaign

Beijing has defended the operation as part of an anti-corruption campaign and said its law enforcement agencies follow international laws when abroad….reports Asian Lite News

The United States charged seven Chinese nationals on Thursday for participating in an alleged campaign to force a US resident back to China as part of an “international extralegal repatriation” operation run by Beijing.

The Justice Department said the defendants were engaged in Beijing’s Operation Fox Hunt, which US authorities have said involves extra-judicial “repatriation squads” that clandestinely attempt to force expatriates to return to China.

Beijing has defended the operation as part of an anti-corruption campaign and said its law enforcement agencies follow international laws when abroad.

The seven people charged on Thursday allegedly surveilled and harassed the family of an “elite” overseas Chinese national they called John Doe-1 as part of a forced repatriation campaign against him.

“The defendants engaged in a unilateral and uncoordinated law enforcement action on U.S. soil on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China, in an effort to cause the forced repatriation of a U.S. resident to China,” Justice Department attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

“The United States will firmly counter such outrageous violations of national sovereignty and prosecute individuals who act as illegal agents of foreign states.”

Two of those charged — lead defendant, Quanzhong An, 55, and his daughter Guangyang An, 34, — were arrested Thursday, while the other five accused remain at large.

The Justice Department said Quanzhong An, described as a New York businessman, was Beijing’s key US-based liaison.

“Quanzhong An admitted that he was acting as an agent of the Provincial Commission to increase his standing in the PRC,” the Justice Department said, adding that he met with the targeted expatriate’s son several times to “cause the return of John Doe-1.”

The campaign also saw one of John Doe-1’s relatives sent from China to the US in 2018 to convey threats to his son “that were intended to coerce” his return.

Spanish-based rights group Safeguard Defenders released a report in January citing government data to estimate that almost 10,000 Chinese nationals had been forcibly returned since 2014.

Through two programs, Operation Fox Hunt and Operation Sky Net, those targeted were pressured to return to China against their will using a combination of non-judicial methods — including kidnappings, harassment and intimidation, according to the report.

In July, the US charged nine people with “acting as and conspiring to act as unregistered agents” of China under Operation Fox Hunt.

In October, five people were arrested for targeting an unnamed Chinese person living in the US.

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-Top News India News PAKISTAN

405 Indians stranded in Pakistan to return

The Indian Mission in Islamabad has asked all individuals listed to make necessary arrangements to reach at the Wagah-Attari border in time for their repatriation…reports Asian Lite News

Over 400 Indian nationals stranded in different parts of Pakistan due to the closure of borders for the containment of Covid-19 in March last year will return on June 28.

Additionally, 48 No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) visa holders and 8 spouses and relatives of NORI visa holders will also return from Pakistan to India the same day.

“High Commission of India in Pakistan is facilitating the return of 405 Indian nationals, 48 NORI visa holders and 8 spouses/relatives of NORI visa holders from Pakistan to India on June 28, 2021 as per the attached list,” said a statement of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan on Wednesday.

The repatriation will be carried out as per the list of Indian nationals and NORI visa holders, it noted.

India Pakistan border
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The Indian Mission in Islamabad has asked all individuals listed to make necessary arrangements to reach at the Wagah-Attari border in time for their repatriation.

This is by far the highest number of Indian nationals to be repatriated from Pakistan in a single day since the Indian High Commission begun facilitating return of Indians from Pakistan in June last year.

India and Pakistan had then operated a shuttle service for people stuck on both sides of the border due to the pandemic. The High Commission had facilitated the return of 748 Indians from Pakistan on 25-27 June 2020.

More than 2,000 Indians and Pakistanis have already been allowed to return to their respective countries though the border since June.

This year alone, 114 compatriots had returned to India on 11 January.
Besides, Indian nationals, NORI visa holders and their spouses or relatives have also been bought back to the country from Pakistan.

The Indian government issues NORI visas to Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals who leave their home country and live in India or are married in India but have not yet obtained Indian citizenship. (INN)

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