PEN International, an association of writers, called on the government to immediately halt the mass deportation of Afghans from Pakistan, including writers, journalists and others at risk of persecution from the Taliban, according to a statement.

As of May 18, a total of 55,865 Afghan nationals including 35,975 ACC holders and 19,890 illegal migrants have left for Afghanistan since April 1, the day the second phase began after the deadline for repatriation of registered Afghan nationals ended on March 31.

The PEN International-led joint statement, signed by freedom of expression and human rights organisations, concerns the recent acceleration in the mass deportation of Afghans from Pakistan, including at-risk writers, journalists, artists, human rights defenders and others at risk of persecution from the Taliban for their peaceful expression.

More than a dozen organisations called on the government to “immediately halt the arbitrary mass deportation of Afghan nationals in line with the country’s human rights obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement.

“We urge the international community to continue to provide safety to at-risk Afghans, including writers, journalists, artists, human rights defenders and others who fled the Taliban’s persecution,” PEN International said.

It noted that the government’s decision to deport Afghan nationals, announced on October 3, 2023, drew “significant concern” from international institutions, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration, who urged the government to continue to protect at-risk Afghans.

“Despite the UNHCR’s active non-return advisory for Afghanistan and calls from UN experts to halt the deportations, the government of Pakistan has accelerated its forced returns in recent months, resulting in over 30,000 deportations in April alone,” the statement said.

“Included among those deported who are at greatest risk of persecution are writers, journalists, artists, and human rights defenders who continue to face significant threats of arbitrary arrest, torture and imprisonment for any form of expression that the Taliban deem incompatible with their ideology.

“Women and girls deported to Afghanistan will face overwhelming levels of repression impacting every aspect of their lives, amounting to what UN experts have described as ‘gender apartheid’,” the statement read.

Many of those who fled across the border into Pakistan following the Taliban’s return to de facto rule in August 2021 had planned to travel onwards to a country of safety, PEN International stated

“However, the suspension of humanitarian visa pathways and inadequate support for at-risk Afghans in countries around the world, including the US, the UK and Germany, has left many stranded in a situation of abject precarity and insecurity.”

For the over one million Afghan refugees and asylum seekers who remain in Pakistan, the intensifying crackdown by Pakistani authorities, which includes mass arrests and other forms of harassment, has instilled a renewed sense of fear in a community already blighted by conflict and marginalisation, PEN International emphasised.

“In light of the severe risk posed by the Taliban, the undersigned organisations call on the government of Pakistan to immediately suspend its ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’.

“We also call on the international community to ensure safe and legal passage for Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, including writers, journalists, artists, human rights defenders, and others at risk of persecution for their peaceful expression.

The organisations who signed the joint statement along with PEN International include:

• Afghan Journalists in Exile in North America and Europe (AJE)
• Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
• Committee to Protect Journalists
• Free Press Unlimited
• Front Line Defenders
• Index on Censorship
• International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN)
• NAI Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan (NAI-SOMA)
• PEN Afghanistan
• PEN America
• PEN Germany
• PEN International
• PEN Norway
• Reporters without borders (RSF)
• The International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT)