Latest news with #AfghanRefugees
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Afghans start fleeing Iran in fear of Israeli bombings
KABUL: Abdulsaboor Seddiqi was in the middle of his mid-term exams at a university in Tehran when Israeli bombardment started to wreak havoc in the city. He decided to leave as soon as classes were suspended, and traveled 1,200 km to cross to Afghanistan. Israeli airstrikes on Iran began last week, when Tel Aviv hit more than a dozen Iranian sites — including key nuclear facilities and the residences of military leaders and scientists — claiming it was aiming to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Daily attacks have been ongoing for the past seven days after Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes against Israel. The Israeli military has since been increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure. 'During the last week, we didn't have proper phone and internet connectivity. Power cuts were more frequent,' Seddiqi, a computer science student, told Arab News. 'My family back in Herat was worried for my safety. I decided to leave.' He is one of the thousands of Afghans who are now crossing the border every day. At the Islam Qala crossing alone — part of the main route connecting Herat and Iran's Mashhad — the number of people crossing daily has surged from 1,500 to as high as 8,000. 'The number of Afghans returning from Iran has drastically increased during the last week. The majority of the returnees were individuals prior to the conflict, while a lot of families also returned in the last week,' said Naser Azimi, a health worker at the Islam Qala health center. 'The number of Afghans returning through Islam Qala every day increased to 3,000 and even reached 8,000 people in a day.' Abdulbasit Qazizada, who has been working in Tehran for the past two years, arrived in Herat on Monday. 'There was an unusual rush at the Islam Qala border crossing when I was coming back,' he said. 'There's so much fear and anxiety across all cities of Iran, especially Tehran. Many Afghans also work or live there.' Over decades of armed conflict at home, about 5 million Afghan refugees and migrant workers settled in neighboring Iran, according to official data. Iran is home to the largest Afghan diaspora in the world. Most of them live in Tehran. Some Afghan families have lost contact with their relatives living in the Iranian capital since the outbreak of violence. 'My brother went to Iran a few months ago for work. We heard in the news on Friday that Israel attacked Iran and killed a lot of people,' said Mohammad Naser, a resident of Kabul, whose brother and two cousins were in Tehran. 'It's been a week that we don't know anything about them. My mother and my family members are very concerned. We don't know if they are OK. We feel helpless because we can't do anything.' According to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 224 people have been killed and 1,481 wounded in Israeli attacks. Various media outlets have reported, however, that casualty numbers could be at least twice as high.
Associated Press
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
45 minutes to pack up a lifetime as Pakistan's foreigner crackdown sends Afghans scrambling
TORKHAM, Afghanistan (AP) — The order was clear and indisputable, the timeline startling. You have 45 minutes to pack up and leave Pakistan forever. Sher Khan, a 42-year-old Afghan, had returned home from his job in a brick factory. He stared at the plainclothes policeman on the doorstep, his mind reeling. How could he pack up his whole life and leave the country of his birth in under an hour? In the blink of an eye, the life he had built was taken away from him. He and his wife grabbed a few kitchen items and whatever clothes they could for themselves and their nine children. They left everything else behind at their home in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Born in Pakistan to parents who fled the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ensuing war, Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have now been expelled. The nationwide crackdown, launched in October 2023, on foreigners Pakistan says are living in the country illegally has led to the departures of almost 1 million Afghans already. Pakistan says millions more remain. It wants them gone. Leaving with nothing to beat a deadline 'All our belongings were left behind,' Khan said as he stood in a dusty, windswept refugee camp just across the Afghan border in Torkham, the first stop for expelled refugees. 'We tried so hard (over the years) to collect the things that we had with honor.' Pakistan set several deadlines earlier this year for Afghans to leave or face deportation. Afghan Citizen Card holders had to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31, while those with Proof of Registration could stay until June 30. No specific deadlines were set for Afghans living elsewhere in Pakistan. Khan feared that delaying his departure beyond the deadline might have resulted in his wife and children being hauled off to a police station along with him a blow to his family's dignity. 'We are happy that we came (to Afghanistan) with modesty and honor,' he said. As for his lost belongings, 'God may provide for them here, as He did there.' A refugee influx in a struggling country At the Torkham camp, run by Afghanistan's Taliban government, each family receives a SIM card and 10,000 Afghanis ($145) in aid. They can spend up to three days there before having to move on. The camp's director, Molvi Hashim Maiwandwal, said some 150 families were arriving daily from Pakistan — far fewer than the roughly 1,200 families who were arriving about two months ago. But he said another surge was expected after the three-day Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha that started June 7. Aid organizations inside the camp help with basic needs, including healthcare. Local charity Aseel provides hygiene kits and helps with food. It has also set up a food package delivery system for families once they arrive at their final destination elsewhere in Afghanistan. Aseel's Najibullah Ghiasi said they expected a surge in arrivals 'by a significant number' after Eid. 'We cannot handle all of them, because the number is so huge,' he said, adding the organization was trying to boost fundraising so it could support more people. Pakistan blames Afghanistan for militancy Pakistan accuses Afghans of staging militant attacks inside the country, saying assaults are planned from across the border — a charge Kabul's Taliban government denies. Pakistan denies targeting Afghans, and maintains that everyone leaving the country is treated humanely and with dignity. But for many, there is little that is humane about being forced to pack up and leave in minutes or hours. Iran, too, has been expelling Afghans, with the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, saying on June 5 that 500,000 Afghans had been forced to leave Iran and Pakistan in the two months since April 1. Rights groups and aid agencies say authorities are pressuring Afghans into going sooner. In April, Human Rights Watch said police had raided houses, beaten and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits. Officers demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan, the group added. Searching for hope while starting again Fifty-year-old Yar Mohammad lived in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir for nearly 45 years. The father of 12 built a successful business polishing floors, hiring several workers. Plainclothes policemen knocked on his door too. They gave him six hours to leave. 'No way a person can wrap up so much business in six hours, especially if they spent 45 years in one place,' he said. Friends rushed to his aid to help pack up anything they could: the company's floor-polishing machines, some tables, bed-frames and mattresses, and clothes. Now all his household belongings are crammed into orange tents in the Torkham refugee camp, his hard-earned floor-polishing machines outside and exposed to the elements. After three days of searching, he managed to find a place to rent in Kabul. 'I have no idea what we will do,' he said, adding that he would try to recreate his floor-polishing business in Afghanistan. 'If this works here, it is the best thing to do.'
Globe and Mail
07-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Letters to the editor, June 7: ‘The AI revolution needs thoughtful regulation'
Re 'In its bid to rescue Afghans, Ottawa is fracturing their families' (Opinion, May 31): I can only imagine the relentlessly pounding and debilitating terror one must feel while anxiously awaiting safe passage out of Pakistan. I cannot understand why the Canadian immigration system is unable or, I shudder to think, unwilling to fix its flaw and expedite family unification on Canadian soil, given that many of these Afghans were indispensable allies for Canadians stationed in Afghanistan during the war. Perhaps a few terse pointers from Mark Carney could do the trick. Elsewhere, nearly 60 Afghan women's rights defenders have also been hiding in Pakistan ('Afghan women activists in Pakistan fear deportation as country cracks down on refugees' – April 22). Surely the Canadian government can do something to help these courageous women escape the awaiting brutality of both the Pakistani police and the Taliban. L.H. MacKenzie Vancouver Re 'A real reform mandate for the first federal AI minister' (Editorial, May 31): The artificial intelligence revolution needs thoughtful regulation. Another important AI-specific element of Evan Solomon's mandate letter should be policies to promote deployment of digital technologies by Canadian business to reskill and upskill our workforce, and to develop new products and services. Canada lags many countries, especially the United States, with the digital economy previously estimated by the Bank of Canada to account for as little as 5.5 per cent of GDP. Moreover, research shows that Canada faces serious digital skill shortages that are impacting labour supply, business efficiencies and growth. In the Industrial Revolution, it was the deployment of the steam engine that spurred economic growth through innovations worldwide. We should keep in mind that in the past, shared prosperity emerged only when technological advances were made to work for everyone. Which brings us back to the importance of sound regulation. Paul Jenkins Ottawa Re 'How to win a trade war: Canada, Trump and a delicate dance in asymmetric warfare' (Report on Business, May 31): 'Play defence: Reform our corporate tax regime.' One thing I am almost certain of in life is that corporate tax experts will never say such taxes are too low; they are always too high. The result is a race to the bottom, where less and less government revenue comes from corporate taxes. Where that process ends is obvious to me. How about approaching the issue from a different perspective: Who benefits from government spending? Canada has a track record of providing a safe, law-abiding environment within which corporations and their shareholders can have confidence that business can prosper. Should not the beneficiaries of programs requiring government expenditures to create that environment (defence spending being an example) pay their fair share of the costs? If for no other reason than to reverse income disparities between the very rich and the very poor, corporate taxes should not be cut any further. Peter Love Toronto Re 'How a Montreal family, a Baghdad embassy and the French government became entwined in a legal drama' (May 30): I would like to add another piece to your fascinating story on the Lawee family home being used as the French embassy in Baghdad. In the summer of 1981, I led a 10-person team in Baghdad for the initial research phase of Canadian architect Arthur Erickson's master plan for a 3.5-kilometre stretch of the Tigris riverfront and adjacent inland areas. Our team members were responsible for the detailed inventory and assessment of all 1,400 buildings within the Abu Nuwas Conservation/Development Project. They recalled one morning sitting in the office of our client, the chief architect of Baghdad, when it somehow came out that the French embassy was slated for demolition that day. When they hastily pointed out that the building had been earmarked in our report as heritage to be saved, our client picked up the phone, then and there, and the destruction was halted. Alan Bell Vancouver Re 'The perils of keeping identity hidden from kids conceived by sperm donors' (Opinion, May 31): Contributor Aviva Coopersmith details her bumpy conception story and the excruciatingly slow pace that donor-conceived persons in Canada and the greater world endure to maybe, possibly, someday gain greater access to their genetic past so they can fully own their present and future. My heart goes out to Ms. Coopersmith. I am the dad of a perfect two-year-old donor-conceived girl. I often lie awake at night worrying that my daughter will grow up with similar worries and wonderings. This is why I joined the board of Donor Conception Canada, a non-profit that helps people grappling with donor conception, be they prospective parents, active parents, donors or donor-conceived persons. We are all in this together. Joshua Levy Montreal Re 'Cattle have roamed Cambridge's city centre for hundreds of years. GPS is keeping the tradition going' (June 4): Very charming tradition. However, one minor – major? – problem has not been mentioned. I am talking about the rather copious amounts of 'pasture pastry' from each of the lovely beasts. How does the city deal with it: Cow diapers? Udder underwear? Just asking. Baily Seshagiri Ottawa Re 'I no longer knew how to find God, so nature became my church' (First Person, June 5): In a COVID-19 world, some have not returned to church. However, as rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, 'faith is faithfulness.' Authentic worship is a discipline, an exercise. It is not only about what we receive, it is about what we give. As the essay-writer acknowledges, there is no similar community in communing with nature. I used to say that the church would always be there when people choose to return to it. Not any more. Many congregations struggle to survive. When people do not attend their local church, they often do not support it. If she chooses to go back to church one day, I hope it is there for her. Keith McKee Reverend London, Ont. I appreciate the essay-writer's awakening to the world around her in nature. I call nature God's first scripture. The parallels between outdoor sanctuary and wooden pews and stained glass are true: They are spaces to inspire, to inhale the spirit. I don't go to church to meet God; God is everywhere. I go to meet others along the way, and am determined to create a space where we are awakened, comforted, tear-soaked and then sent outdoors to nature ready to bring love to feed the lost and lonely creatures of the world. For me, there is a call to engage and transform the world, one goldfinch or silver-haired human at a time. John Pentland Reverend Hillhurst United Church; Calgary .................................................................................................................................. Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@
CBS News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump's travel ban hits hard in Sacramento, home to largest Afghan refugee population in U.S.
SACRAMENTO — President Trump's travel ban is hitting one Northern California community especially hard. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation banning travel and immigration from a dozen countries and restricting the entry of nationals of seven other nations. Among the countries on the travel ban list is Afghanistan. Sacramento County has the largest number of Afghan refugees in the U.S. Afghan Super Market on Fulton Avenue is one of the nerve centers for the local Afghanistan community. Aziz Ayobi's family is the owner. The travel ban is hitting close to home for him, with elderly family living in Afghanistan. "Right now, my grandma's really sick and my mom just came back from visiting her, so once she heard the news, she was really upset," Ayobi said. Abdul Kabul was at the store with his young son. He immigrated to the U.S. after helping the Army as an interpreter. He showed us photos of some of his family still in Afghanistan, whom he may now no longer be able to visit. "This is sad news," Kabul said. "It makes the process harder and harder for the people that live here." Sahar Razavi, an associate professor of politics at Sacramento State, is the director of the university's Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center. She says the ban makes those even legally allowed to travel less likely to do it. "This is just one brick in a huge wall President Trump has tried to build against immigrants and foreign nationals," Razavi said. "The general message is you are not welcome here unless you belong to a very specific subset of people." The nations on the ban list are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. On the restricted list are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The travel ban is set to go into effect on Monday.
Bloomberg
29-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
State Department Plans to Close Office That Aids Afghan Refugees
The US State Department has notified Congress that it will shut down the office that helped resettle Afghan refugees who assisted the American war effort, provoking an outcry from nonprofit groups that helped evacuate people when the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021. The elimination of the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts was disclosed in a letter to Congress outlining efforts to reorganize the department. A copy of the document was seen by Bloomberg News. The office's functions will be 'realigned' to the Afghanistan Affairs Office and the role of special representative for Afghan reconstruction will also be eliminated.
