Struggling with a broken economy, the interim Taliban administration in Kabul is seeking international aid to manage the Afghan refugee influx from neighboring Pakistan.
“We call on international community (including) Muslim countries to help,” Taliban’s nominee to the UN, Suhail Shaheen, told Anadolu, pointing to rush of incoming refugees through border openings with Pakistan in Torkham and Spin Boldak.
“It is a humanitarian issue,” Shaheen emphasized in a phone interview from Afghanistan, adding that around 300,000 undocumented Afghan refugees have returned to war-torn nation since Nov. 1.
Last month, the Pakistani government announced that all undocumented foreigners, primarily Afghan refugees, would be deported, with an Oct. 31 deadline.
Shaheen said the Pakistani government gave “a short notice” to Afghans to leave the South Asian nation.
The refugee influx into Afghanistan comes at a time when the interim administration is working to fix economy of the country which saw war until the Taliban returned in 2021. No nation has recognized the interim administration while international funding has dried up.
Nearly 1 million people are targeted under what Islamabad calls the “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan” – most of whom are Afghans.
The UN and the Afghan interim administration have urged Islamabad to halt such plans.
Shaheen, however, said the incoming refugees are in urgent need “for their settlement, food, drinking water, blankets, and tents.”
The international community “can help Afghan refugees who have been deprived of their many properties in Pakistan … even they have been harassed by police and security forces of Pakistan,” he argued.
“Now, they are inside Afghanistan and this is where international community can help,” he said.
The Taliban has formed 12 committees – Shaheen is part of media committee – to overlook repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. They have established tent cities in the two border cities to receive their citizens.
The United Arab Emirates, according to the Afghan authorities, have shipped around 20,000 tents for the incoming refugees.
In the first four days from beginning of November, more than 60% of arrivals from Pakistan were children, data by the UN humanitarian office revealed.
“Their condition is desperate, with many having travelled for days, unclear of where to return to and stranded at the border,” it said on Tuesday, calling for urgent funding to provide immediate post-arrival assistance to the refugees.
- Security problem of Pakistan is not 2 years old: Taliban spokesman
Shaheen rejected Pakistan’s accusation that militancy inside the South Asian neighbor of Kabul was because of Afghanistan.
“The security problem in Pakistan has not been (there) since the last two years. It has been there for last 20 years in Pakistan,” Shaheen told Anadolu.
Early on Wednesday, Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar claimed that militant attacks in the country increased by 60% since the Afghan Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021.
“It is not something made by the government in Kabul,” Shaheen repulsed at Kakar’s statement.
“They (Pakistan) have the same problem. Those attacks are happening 200 kilometers (124 miles) inside the country,” he said of Pakistan, which has faced mounting attacks by the homegrown Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP) militant group.
“During the last two years when the Afghan Taliban returned to power, terrorist attacks have increased by 60% while suicide attacks increased by 500% in Pakistan,” Kakar said in Islamabad, adding that 2,267 Pakistanis lost their lives in those attacks.
Kakar said Islamabad shared “all the details” with the Afghan interim government, “but they did not take action against TTP terrorists who are living in Afghanistan and using that soil against us.”
However, Shaheen said the ruling Afghan Taliban have demanded “evidence” from Pakistan.
“We have told them (Pakistan) to please produce some evidence on it (use of Afghan soil) so we can take action but we are hearing only accusation through the media,” Shaheen said, reiterating Kabul’s commitment that Afghan soil will not be used against Pakistan or any other country.
The TTP is a conglomeration of several Pakistani militant groups that Islamabad claims are currently inside Afghanistan.
Kabul, however, denies that its soil is being used against Islamabad.
Defending Pakistan’s decision to expel undocumented foreigners, Kakar said: “Legal Afghan refugees can live and work in Pakistan.”
