Undocumented Afghan refugees in Pakistan face an unknown fate

By Saeedullah Safi

Afghan asylum seekers who have the conditions to be evacuated to the United States, England, and some European countries, live in miserable and bad conditions even in danger of being imprisoned in Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan has announced that they will imprison illegal Afghan refugees for three years after the end of 2022. Meanwhile, Afghan refugees state that the government of Pakistan refuse to extend their visas.

With the return of the Taliban to power, thousands of Afghans, including the employees of foreign organizations, went to Pakistan to save themselves, but after a few months, their residence documents in this country expired and now they are in dire straits.

Salma Niazi, a former journalist Included in the United States Asylum Program (P2), who is in Pakistan states, "I have been living in Pakistan for a year. Unfortunately, the residence visa here has expired. Recently, Pakistan announced that asylum seekers who do not have a legal residence permit will be imprisoned for three years at the end of this year. It is very difficult for me and my children." She added, "unfortunately, Pakistan does not extend visas for Afghan asylum seekers who request visa extension, and few people who can get a visa, the validity of the extension is one month. Or there are commission workers who charge a lot of money to extend the visa and many Afghan refugees are facing financial problems."

An Afghan woman in Pakistan, Frishta Faraz, who is waiting to immigrate to the UK maintains, "Because of the lack of legal documents, we cannot rent a house, and our children do not have the right to enrol in school."

Meanwhile, UNHCR Pakistan states that the country hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghans who have been forced to flee their homes.