Pakistan's top court begins hearing challenge to expulsion of Afghans

autotldr Bot , 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearings on Friday on a petition by rights activists seeking to halt deportation of Afghan refugees, a lawyer said, as authorities are combing refugee settlements in an effort to find and send home thousands.

“Due to the urgency, as thousands of people are suffering on daily basis, I’ve requested the court to take up the case as early as next week,” said Umar Ijaz Gilani, the lawyer representing the rights activists.

Thousands of Afghans have gone underground in Pakistan to avoid deportation, fearing for their lives if they return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan following a hasty and chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led Western forces in 2021.

Friday’s petition is separate from another focused exclusively on seeking Pakistani citizenship for such children, as guaranteed by the South Asian nation’s constitution, he said.

Many arrived after the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, joining a large number living there since the Soviet invasion of the neighbouring nation in 1979.

Pakistani police have searched door-to-door in refugee settlements for any who have not left voluntarily, starting from the southern port city of Karachi, where hundreds of thousands of Afghans live.

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The original article contains 326 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 41%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

FlyingSquid , 7 months ago

I realize the situation in Gaza is much worse than this, but these are still people being sent to live a life under Taliban oppression and possibly die for violating one of their insane laws. I hope this isn’t buried under the Israel news. Both need to be reported.