Pakistan is threatening to jail people for up to three years if they don’t renew their visas by the end of 2022. The process costs applicants hundreds of dollars each — leaving families who fled Afghanistan and the Taliban with little or nothing money serious disadvantage. A video advertisement produced by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior has been running on government social media channels and television since early October. It warns that “foreigners who overstay may be sentenced to up to three years in prison” after December 31. “The Pakistani government’s message that those Afghans in Pakistan illegally will be deported and arrested is very troubling,” said Brian Macdonald, executive director of Aman Lara, a non-profit organization of Canadian veterans and working interpreters. for more than a year to bring Afghan refugees to Canada. While the only foreign countries named in the ad are India and Somalia, it is shown in three different languages: Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) and Dari and Pashto, which are often spoken by Afghans. Mohammad Nasimi and his children pose in the hotel room in Islamabad where they are staying as they wait to move to Canada. (Mohammed Nasimi) “They are directly targeting us,” said Mohammad Younas Nasimi, an Afghan refugee seeker. He lives in a hotel room in Islamabad with his wife and six children while he waits to see if he qualifies for a Special Immigration Measures program run by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The program is intended to help expedite immigration for ex-military interpreters and other former employees of the Canadian government and armed forces, along with their families. As a contract worker, Nasimi helped Canadian troops in Afghanistan locate bombs and landmines planted by the Taliban. Nasimi said he had been waiting for a response from IRCC for a year. He said he fears his family’s status in Pakistan is becoming more precarious. A few weeks after he first saw the ad play on TV, he said, his two-year-old son was beaten in their hotel. “I still didn’t find out who the guy was [that did this to him]Nasimi said, adding that his son suffered head injuries. “His nose was badly damaged and bleeding.” He said he sent the Canadian High Commission in Pakistan a note, but all he got was a reply saying his immigration file was still being processed.
Pakistan says Afghans with valid documents will be ‘facilitated’
In a media statement, the High Commission of Pakistan in Canada said it remains committed “to facilitating the travel from Pakistan of all those Afghans whose cases are identified by donor countries/governments through their Missions in Pakistan.” It also said the video ad applies to all overstaying foreigners, not just Afghans. “[Afghans] Possession of valid travel documents as well as visas/documents for onward travel from Pakistan has been and will be facilitated by the Government of Pakistan,” the statement said. CBC News spoke to a refugee claimant whose undocumented status put him in the crosshairs of police. CBC News agreed not to identify him because of the dangers he faces in Islamabad and those he would face after being deported to Afghanistan. He said he waited eleven months to find out if he qualifies to move to Canada. He said his father worked as a carpenter with the Canadian Armed Forces and volunteered with Aman Lara before fleeing Afghanistan in 2021 after falling to the Taliban. He, his parents and nine siblings were only able to pay the visa fees once after moving to Islamabad from Afghanistan, he said. His family members have since been waiting to find out if they qualify for Canada’s immigration program. In mid-October, they received a letter from their hostel urging them to renew their visas. “Dear guest, we are facing a problem from the law enforcement agencies of Pakistan,” said the note, signed by a general manager of the Capetown Guest House. The Canadian High Commission and the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration have since helped him and his family move to another hostel. The family is still waiting for their immigration papers to be cleared by the Canadian government.
“Constructive dialogue” with Pakistan continues, Ottawa says
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada said in media statements that they continue to have strong relations with the Pakistani government. IRCC said it had an “active and constructive dialogue” with Islamabad on “issues related to the safe transit of vulnerable Afghans.” He deflected a question about concerns about video advertising, but said “each country retains the power to set its own entry and exit requirements.” Global Affairs said it appreciated Pakistan’s “efforts to support Canada’s resettlement program in Afghanistan.” About 18 charter flights carrying Afghans from Pakistan have come to Canada since January 2022, according to IRCC. Citing security concerns, however, neither department would say how many Afghans are still waiting in Pakistan for permission to come to Canada. Aman Lara said she is in contact with about 400 Afghans in the same situation. According to a directive from the government of Pakistan, from June to August this year it granted safe passage to Afghans without valid travel documents “via land air routes … as the case may be, in coordination with receiving third countries. “ Aman Lara said she hopes the authorities in Islamabad will return to this policy. Brian Macdonald, the executive director of Aman Lara, says the nonprofit has helped bring more than 3,000 Afghan refugees to safety in Canada since Kabul fell to the Taliban. (Derek Hooper/CBC) “We encourage the government of Pakistan to reopen this window,” Macdonald said. But according to a Canadian government official familiar with the situation, Pakistan has told Canada and other countries with immigration measures for Afghans — such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany — that it cannot maintain a loose border forever for thanks to them. immigration programs. The source spoke to CBC News on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The source also said that, more than a year after the Taliban took over, Islamabad is no longer treating the situation of Afghan refugees as an emergency. The source said that Pakistan has been doing periodic campaigns on social media about the border rules.
