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Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
World Refugee Day: 123m people worldwide forcibly displaced
ISLAMABAD: As of the end of 2024, some 123 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to conflict, persecution, and violence. This includes 42.7 million refugees and others in need of international protection. This means one in every 67 people on the planet is displaced, said UN Refugee Agency-UNHCR on the occasion of World Refugee Day on Friday. UNHCR Pakistan stands in solidarity with millions of people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, and violence. This year's theme, 'Solidarity with Refugees,' is a call to action to ensure compassion, support, and inclusion for displaced populations, said the UNHCR Spokesperson Qaiser Khan Afridi in a statement. Pakistan continues to demonstrate remarkable generosity and hospitality, currently hosting over 2.35 million Afghan refugees including Proof of Registration (PoR) cardholders and others in need of protection, he added. While displacement globally continues to rise due to ongoing conflicts across the world, humanitarian funding is stagnating and, in some cases, declining. Philippa Candler, UNHCR Representative in Pakistan said, 'As we mark World Refugee Day, a moment to honour the courage and strength of refugees across the globe, we also reflect on their stories of loss and pain. Sadly, in many parts of the world, the right to asylum is under threat. Tougher and more restrictive policies are making it harder for people fleeing war, violence and persecution to find safety. In difficult moments like these, we need more than ever to stand in solidarity with refugees.' Candler appreciated and acknowledged the people of Pakistan and its government for generously hosting Afghan refugees for decades. She said that UNHCR remains committed to working with the Government of Pakistan to find long-term solutions - through return, resettlement, and alternative legal pathways, and to protect those who continue to need asylum. The UNHCR Representative said that Pakistan is contributing to the global refugee cause at a time when we are witnessing shrinking asylum space worldwide. 'We urge Pakistan to continue its support for displaced people, and call on the international community to match this commitment with solidarity and resources,' she said. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Arab News
30-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Afghans married to Pakistanis fear split from families amid deportation drive
PESHAWAR: Muhammad Alam, 40, wakes up daily to the laughter and noise of his seven children as they begin their day at the family's rented home in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar while their mother prepares breakfast in a small kitchen. These days, Alam's heart is full of dread, and he is having frequent arguments with his wife over whether she and the children, six daughters and one son, will accompany him to Afghanistan if he has to leave. Alam is an Afghan refugee who is married to a Pakistani woman. Under an ongoing repatriation drive targeting "illegal" foreigners that was launched by the Pakistan government in November 2023, Alam may have to leave the country soon. If that happens, he will be separated from his family, all of whom are Pakistani nationals and are refusing to accompany him. Around 1.3 million Afghans have left Pakistan since the expulsion drive was started. 'We are in trouble because of the deportation drive,' Alam told Arab News at his home in Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 'I can't refuse to leave but who will convince my family? Just for me, these seven children will not go to Afghanistan and I can't leave these seven behind.' Alam holds a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, a document issued by the National Database and Registration Authority that provides temporary legal status and freedom of movement for registered Afghan refugees. It serves as an identification document, allowing Afghan refugees to legally reside in Pakistan. The PoR card was initially issued in 2007 and has been extended multiple times, currently valid until June 30, 2025. Alam is unsure what will happen after that deadline passes next month: 'If the government arrests and deports me, who will take care of my family?' When he spoke to his children about going to Afghanistan with him, one of them replied: 'You are an Afghan, you should go.' Alam's wife holds a Pakistani Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and his children all have the Form-B, an important document for children under 18 years old in Pakistan, serving as a child's identification document and necessary for various purposes like school admissions, passports, and international travel. One of Alam's daughters Laiba, 14, said the government should make a special case for her father as he had a Pakistani family. 'We and our mother have Pakistani identification documents, only he doesn't have it. He should be given the [CNIC] card, the whole fight will end,' she said. 'What will we do in Afghanistan? We have neither seen nor gone there.' Troubles have already begun for the family. Laiba said she was refused enrollment in the 8th standard after she failed to present a Pakistani CNIC for her father. 'They asked for my mother's [CNIC] card, I produced it. Then they asked for my father's card. My father didn't have a [CNIC] card, from where should I have produced it? So, they expelled me from the school,' the teenager said. 'Our school is gone already. What should we do?' Qudratullah, 38, another Afghan refugee from Jalalabad who is married to a Pakistani women, is facing the same issue, saying his children and wife were refusing to accompany him to Afghanistan. While he has an Afghan passport, his Pakistan visa had expired, after which he was deported to Afghanistan in October 2024. It took him nearly four months to get a new visa from Afghanistan and return to Pakistan in February this year, with a multiple-entry family visit visa that expires in February 2026. 'I have married a Pakistani woman but my wife doesn't want to go with me to [Afghanistan],' Qudratullah told Arab News. 'When I tell her to go, she starts fighting with me. She doesn't want to go with me at any cost.' Qudratullah's wife Nasreen Bibi described the situation as 'too difficult.' 'Sometimes he [my husband] gets a visa and sometimes the visa is rejected, and he sometimes gets stuck there [in Afghanistan] and we are left alone,' she said at the couple's home in Peshawar. 'We have children who are studying here, we have a house. We can't go with him there, our children can't live in that country.' 'HOSPITALITY' Nauman Mohib Kakakhel, a Peshawar High Court advocate, has fought cases for families, where a Pakistani is married to an Afghan with Proof of Registration (POR) or Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). The ACC is a document issued by the Pakistan government to undocumented Afghan nationals, allowing them to legally reside in Pakistan for a limited time and provides temporary protection from deportation. 'We filed a case for hundreds of families, and it was decided by the Peshawar High Court that since NADRA already has records of these families in the shape of Afghan Citizen Cards or Proof of Registration cards, as they enjoy refugees' status in Pakistan and that's a legal status,' Kakakhel said. 'And now they have got married to a Pakistani citizen, so this should be sufficient for them to get permanent residency in Pakistan.' As per the law, children born to a couple where one partner is Pakistani and the other is Afghan, will automatically be entitled to the citizenship of Pakistan by descent when they turn 21, the lawyer explained. After they turn 21, they must opt for the nationality of one country while Pakistani women married to an Afghan can hold the citizenship of both countries under Pakistani law. Speaking to Arab News, Qaisar Afridi, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Pakistan, said Afghans, including human rights activists, journalists and others married to Pakistani nationals, were facing challenges in Pakistan: 'As the Pakistani government and the people of Pakistan have hosted Afghans for the past 40-45 years, we request the government of Pakistan that this hospitality should be continued until the situation in Afghanistan improves.'
Hans India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
CoinSwitch releases Proof of Reserves report
Hyderabad: CoinSwitch, a crypto platform with over 2 crore users, has released its fifth Proof of Reserves (PoR) report, reaffirming its commitment to transparency, trust, and investor protection. The report confirms that CoinSwitch holds more crypto and INR assets than the total amount held by its customers. As of March 31, the company's total reserves stood at Rs2,764.20 crore, compared to customer holdings of Rs2,138.64 crore creating a surplus of Rs625.56 crore. This surplus reflects the company's prudent asset and liquidity management, providing reassurance to its growing investor base not only in large metros but also in smaller towns across the country. According to the comapny's recent How India Invests 2024 report, Hyderabad ranks among the top Tier-2 cities leading crypto adoption in India.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
CoinSwitch's fifth PoR shows ₹625 crore surplus over customer holdings
Crypto exchange platform CoinSwitch on Wednesday announced its fifth edition of proof of reserves (PoR) data, stating that the company's overall holdings of crypto and Indian currency balances were higher than those of its customers. The company's total reserves, including crypto and INR balances, were recorded at Rs 2,764.20 crore, while customer holdings stood at Rs 2,138.64 crore as of March 2025. The company's reserves represented a surplus of Rs 625.56 crore. When it came to the holdings of virtual digital assets alone, the company said that crypto user holdings were recorded at Rs 2,043.15 crore, whereas CoinSwitch's total crypto asset holdings stood at Rs 2,576.54 crore. PoR is the 'proof' that a financial entity has the holdings it claims to have. A PoR audit is published by crypto firms to inform customers that a custodian or a crypto platform is adequately liquid and that users can withdraw their funds at any time. It provides transparency on both the user's and the crypto exchange's holdings. In the third edition of the proof of reserves published last year, the company's crypto holdings stood at Rs 3,497.22 crore, whereas user holdings in the same basket were Rs 2,774.10 crore. 'This proof of reserves, now in its fifth edition, reflects our uncompromising focus on fund safety and user protection. We will continue to lead by example in bringing accountability and trust to India's crypto space,' said Balaji Srihari, vice-president, CoinSwitch. CoinSwitch has more than 20 million registered users. It was founded in 2017.
The Print
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Afghan migrants in Pakistan decry mistreatment, continued arrests amid deportations
According to Tolo News, Afghan migrants called for urgent international support, with the IFRC stating that they have launched an emergency appeal to support returning Afghan migrants. Islamabad [Pakistan], May 5 (ANI): Afghan migrants reported continued arrests and mistreatment by Pakistan as they face deportations, Tolo News reported. Notably, a large number of Afghan migrants residing in Iran and Pakistan are complaining about various challenges in these countries. They criticized the continued arrests and forced returns of Afghan migrants by the police in both countries and called on refugee-supporting organizations to address their problems. As per Tolo News, many Afghan migrants in Pakistan also reported continued arrests and mistreatment by the host country, urging refugee-support organizations to seriously address their concerns. An Afghan migrant in Pakistan, told Tolo News, 'There are 1.4 million holders of PoR cards and 800,000 holders of ACC cards living here who have businesses and cannot wrap up and relocate their work in just one or two months. They are heavily involved in commercial activities in Pakistan.' Another Afghan migrant in Pakistan, said: 'Authorities in Afghanistan are obliged to engage, through mediation by international organizations including UNHCR and IOM and under international documents such as the Geneva Convention, in negotiations with officials in Islamabad and Tehran to resolve the issues of Afghan migrants in both countries.' Tolo News also reported that some of these migrants said that after the invalidation of census documents, Afghan migrants who went to the Kafalat office in Iran were issued exit permits. Meanwhile, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has issued a statement saying that due to the intensifying return crisis, the organization has launched an emergency appeal to support returning Afghan migrants. Previously, Amnesty International had called on Pakistan to halt the detentions and deportations, stressing that these actions violate the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to places where they face persecution. Deporting Afghan refugees, particularly women and girls, could deprive them of safety, education, and livelihood opportunities. In response to these developments, international organisations and advocacy groups are urging Pakistan to reconsider its deportation plans and honour its commitments to refugee protection, emphasising the importance of ensuring the safety and rights of Afghan refugees to avoid exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
