Pakistan will consider expelling hundreds of thousands more Afghans in a continued clampdown

News

Pakistan will consider expelling hundreds of thousands more Afghans in a continued clampdown

2024-07-12 02:47 Last Updated At：02:50

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will consider a plan to expel hundreds of thousands more Afghans who have been living in the country for years, the foreign ministry said Thursday, the latest in a monthslong government clampdown on undocumented migrants.

The plan is still in the works, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters — and the government may ultimately reject it.

It would mark the “second phase” of the “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan” and it would involve persons who had been given identification documents known as “Afghan citizen cards” to legalize their stay in Pakistan for a limited time.

“At this stage, I do not have a date to share with you,” she said at a weekly news briefing in the capital, Islamabad, adding that an announcement about the action would be made “at an appropriate time.”

Pakistan's crackdown on undocumented migrants has drawn sweeping criticism from the United Nations, aid agencies and human rights groups.

Since the deportations started, an estimated 600,000 Afghans have gone back to Afghanistan. After forcing thousands back daily, the deportations slowed down and appeared to halt in recent months.

On Wednesday, following a visit by the U.N. refugee agency chief, Filippo Grandi, Islamabad announced it has extended the stay of 1.45 million Afghan refugees residing in the country.

During his visit, Grandi welcomed what he described as the Pakistan government ’s suspension of the deportations.

However, Baloch denied that was the case and said there has been no suspension in the anti-migrant crackdown that targets those without valid papers. The deportations only involve those in Pakistan illegally — and they are being carried out in a “humane manner,” Baloch said.

She insisted Afghan refugees living here need not worry as their stay has now been expended.

Amnesty International said Thursday it welcomed Islamabad's decision to extend one-year stays. Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, the group's regional researcher for South Asia, urged Pakistan to “extend this lifeline to all Afghan refugees in Pakistan."

She also urged Pakistan to formally suspend the "Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan” and top all forcible returns of Afghans in the country.

Pakistan has long hosted an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of their country. More than half a million others escaped Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, with thousands waiting in Pakistan for resettlement in the United States and elsewhere.

Baloch also urged the international community to expedite the process for the relocation of thousands of Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover, most of who are still in Pakistan, she said.

These Afghans have been desperately waiting for their visa applications to be processed so they could leave for the United States, Canada, United Kington, Germany, Australia, Italy and several other countries.

The delay in the resettlement has left these Afghans in a vulnerable position, contending with economic hardship and lack of access to health, education and other services in Pakistan.

Baloch's remarks appeared to catch Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation off guard.

Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, a spokesperson with the refugee ministry, said they had heard through official channels that the deportations have stopped. He said no Afghan refugees have been forcibly deported from Pakistan — whether they had proper papers or not — and that there were no reports of arrests in the neighboring country in the past 24 hours.

Haqqani appealed on the Islamabad government to give Afghans enough time to leave Pakistan in an orderly fashion and that there be no forced deportations.

“Our second request is for our Afghan brothers to return to their country voluntarily,” he said. “Now there is peace in the country ... the refugees should return to their country.”

More torrential rain and flash flooding coming to heavily waterlogged central US

2025-04-05 23:48 Last Updated At：23:50

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Another round of torrential rain and flash flooding was coming Saturday for parts of the South and Midwest already heavily waterlogged by days of severe storms that also spawned some deadly tornadoes.

Round after round of heavy rains have pounded the central U.S., rapidly swelling waterways and prompting a series of flash flood emergencies in Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. The National Weather Service said 45 river locations in multiple states were expected to reach major flood stage, with extensive flooding of structures, roads and other critical infrastructure possible.

Many communities on Saturday were surveying the aftermath of tornadoes that destroyed entire neighborhoods and killed at least seven people, and the weather service warned that more twisters were possible in places this weekend. An additional weather-related death was also reported Friday — 9-year-old boy was swept away in flooding and killed, Kentucky’s governor said.

And interstate commerce is affected — the extreme flooding across a corridor that includes the major cargo hubs in Louisville, Kentucky and Memphis could lead to shipping and supply chain delays, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.

The outburst comes at a time when nearly half of NWS forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates after Trump administration job cuts — twice that of just a decade ago.

Downtown Hopkinsville, Kentucky, reopened early Saturday after floodwaters from the Little River receded, giving a much needed reprieve, but still more rainfall was on its way Saturday and Sunday, Mayor James R. Knight Jr. said.

Torrential rain since Wednesday had turned the downtown of the city of 31,000 into a lake Friday before the bands of weather shifted slightly.

“We got a little rain but most of it went north of us,” Knight said Saturday. “Thank goodness on that. Gave us a little break.”

Flash flood emergencies continued to be issued Saturday across Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, with more heavy rains and damaging winds in the mix. Weather officials in Tennessee, at least, predicted that the crescendo of severe weather risks would subside after Sunday.

“The finish line is in sight!” NWS Nashville posted on social media.

Yet worst of it was expected Saturday afternoon and evening in Hopkinsville, where predictions of another 3-4 inches of rain had people filling more sandbags to hold back another potential surge of floodwaters, Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam said Saturday.

“We anticipate this water coming back quickly if it comes down quickly,” he said. “There are supposed to be three or four bursts of heavy rains throughout the day.”

A light drizzle was falling on the city as he spoke. Local jail inmates were filling sandbags, and officials allotted 20 bags for each resident, he said.

Hundreds of Kentucky roads were impassable Friday because of floodwaters, downed trees or mud and rock slides, and the number of closures were likely to increase with more rain Saturday, said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Flash flooding is particularly worrisome in rural Kentucky where water can rush off the mountains into the hollows. Less than four years ago, dozens died in flooding in the eastern part of the state.

Over in Arkansas, weather officials pleaded with the public to avoid all travel unless absolutely necessary due to the widespread flooding.

"The magnitude of flash flooding taking place in portions of the state is catastrophic, the NWS warned.

Since Wednesday, more than a foot of rain — or 30.5 centimeters — has now fallen in parts of Kentucky, and more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) has fallen in parts of Arkansas and Missouri, forecasters said Saturday.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

At least two reports of observed tornadoes were noted Friday evening in Missouri and Arkansas, according to the NWS. One, near Blytheville, Arkansas, lofted debris at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers) high, according to weather service meteorologist Chelly Amin. The state’s emergency management office reported damage in 22 counties from tornadoes, wind, hail and flash flooding.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said entire neighborhoods in the hard-hit town of Selmer were “completely wiped out,” after it was hit by a tornado with winds estimated by the NWS of up to 160 mph (257 kph). Advance warning of storms likely saved lives as hundreds of people sheltered at a courthouse, the governor said.

Mississippi's governor said at least 60 homes were damaged. And in far western Kentucky, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport, according to the emergency management office in Ballard County.

Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jeff Martin in Marietta, Georgia; Obed Lamy in Hopkinsville; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.