According to a story published in the Daily Times on Saturday, the United States has made a request to Pakistan to allow entry for Afghans who are seeking asylum. A spokeswoman for the US State Department stressed that in order to offer vital assistance, Afghanistan’s neighbours, notably Pakistan, must cooperate with international humanitarian agencies and make it easier for Afghans seeking international protection to enter their country.
“We strongly encourage Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection and to coordinate with international humanitarian organisations… to provide humanitarian assistance,” a representative for the US State Department said as much on Thursday, as reported by the English-language Pakistani newspaper Daily Times.
All unauthorised immigrants, especially a multitude of Afghans, have been given until November 1 to leave Pakistan or face being forcibly deported. Pakistan has said that the deportation procedure will be carried out in stages, maybe beginning with those who have a criminal history.
Allegations that terrorists targeting the Pakistani state are located in Afghanistan have negatively impacted relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Exempting thousands of Afghan applicants from deportation to Afghanistan in exchange for distinctive US visas or refugee resettlement to the US is a request made to Pakistan by a coalition of former top US officials and resettlement agencies.
There are 1.73 million Afghans living in Pakistan without official papers. Over a dozen suicide attacks this year, according to Islamabad, have been carried out by Afghan nationals.
According to Daily Times, Pakistan is now housing the highest number of Afghan refugees since the Soviet assault of Kabul in 1979, with an estimated 4.4 million refugees living there altogether.
