80 ex-senior US officials, resettlement organisations write letter.
Nov 1 is deadline for all undocumented migrants to leave Pakistan.
Migrants told to leave or face deportation after ultimatum ends.
ISLAMABAD: A coalition comprising former high-ranking United States (US) officials and resettlement organisations has issued an urgent appeal to Pakistan, urging it to not deport Afghan individuals applying to seek refuge in and visas for the US.
The appeal comes weeks after Pakistan announced November 1 as the deadline for all undocumented migrants — a substantial number of whom are Afghans — residing in the country to either leave on their own or face expulsion once the ultimatum ends.
The population of the aforementioned migrants includes roughly 20,000 or potentially more Afghans, who escaped their homeland following Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Many of these migrants in Pakistan are awaiting their applications for the US Special Immigration Visas (SIVs) or refugee resettlement in the United States to be processed.
“To deport them back to an environment where their lives would be in jeopardy runs counter to humanitarian principles and international accords” signed by Pakistan, said an open letter sent to the Pakistani embassy signed by 80 former senior US officials, other individuals and US resettlement groups.
They included Colin Kahl, the No 3 Pentagon official until July, three former US ambassadors to Kabul and two retired US generals.
The letter was organised by #AfghanEvac, the main coalition of US groups working to resettle in the United States Afghans who fear retaliation for working for the US government or US-linked organisations during the 20-year American war with the Taliban.
Those in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their applications for SIVs or refugee resettlement include former translators, journalists, women activists and “other professionals who face significant risks” if they return home, the letter said.
The signatories urged Pakistan to immediately halt deportations of those Afghans and “at a minimum” exempt them from detention or deportation.
Pakistan says the deportation process would be orderly and conducted in phases and could begin with people with criminal records.
Some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan have no legal documents, according to Islamabad, which alleged that Afghan nationals carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings this year.