PESHAWAR: Around 400 Afghan nationals including artists and their families moved Peshawar High Court, seeking directives for government to stop their forced repatriation to Afghanistan in accordance with the principle of non-refoulment as they would face persecution in their homeland.

They filed a joint petition, requesting the high court to issue directives to government to allow their stay in Pakistan as refugees.

The petitioners have also referred to an earlier judgement of the high court of Dec 13, 2024, in cases of some other artists and transgender persons, requesting that their plea might also be decided in line with that judgement.

In the earlier judgement, the high court had ordered federal government that it might itself or an officer notified by it consider cases of all those petitioners and should decide whether or not the essential ingredients for grant of asylum on the basis of preventing them from refoulment had been forthcoming in their cases and if said ingredients were found in case of one or more petitioners, then government should make a decision regarding grant of asylum for such period as might be determined by federal government.

Claim they face persecution in Afghanistan

The petition filed through Advocate Jabir Khan includes as respondents federal interior ministry, federal secretary of cabinet division, directors general of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), immigration and passport and FIA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and its home secretary.

The petitioners include Zakiya Dunya Ghazal and scores of other Afghan artists and their families. They said that after taking over of Afghanistan by Taliban, it was dangerous to live there as artists/singers because they had openly announced that no activity like music concerts, etc would be tolerated at any cost there.

They claimed that they and their families along with thousands of other Afghans had to flee to Pakistan and had settled in Peshawar.

The petitioners stated that they along with their families approached UNHCR office in Peshawar, seeking their registration as refugees and consequently they were registered by allotting a specific token number of their registration as refugees by the UN agency.

They contended that federal government had streamlined a policy for repatriation of Afghan refugees to resettle in their country through a notification issued on Oct 10, 2023.

They stated that an agreement had taken place between UNHCR and governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2003, wherein it was held that Afghan citizens’ status as refugees would continue till restoration of durable peace in Afghanistan.

The petitioners have referred to several international conventions and covenants in support of their contention.

They contended that being a signatory to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the government of Pakistan should honour civil and political rights of Afghan citizens as refugees.

Similarly, they stated that Pakistan was signatory to Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) under which it was binding on it to safeguard fundamental tights of Afghan refugees.

The petitioners referred to an earlier judgement of Supreme Court, stating that therein the apex court had clearly provided that the chapter of ‘fundamental rights’ provided in the Constitution of Pakistan was applicable not only to Pakistani citizens rather also to foreigners including Afghan refugees.

They contended that forced repatriation policy of government contradicted the existing UNHCR agreements and Pakistan’s own international commitments. They argued that Afghan artists faced life-threatening risks in Afghanistan and couldn’t return to their homeland.

It merits a mention that different categories of Afghan nationals have regularly been approaching the high court, seeking relief against their imminent deportation by federal government.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025