#afghan-refugees

#afghan-refugees

Pakistan announced it would close all 54 Afghan refugee villages across the country as part of the campaign it began in 2023 to push out what it calls illegal foreigners. These include the villages in Kohat, where Meer and his family live. How can I uproot everything when we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried our loved ones here?

Packs of wild dogs roam around desolate wastelands; toxic chemicals spill out into the street, with corrugated metal sheets and slapdash factories scattered around. It's like a shantytown, he says. However, once he sets foot inside some of these factories, he reaches for a different cinematic comparison. This time he's thinking of the torture-horror film Saw, as he witnesses Afghan refugees working and living in conditions that he says fit the UN definition of modern-day slavery.

Before the Taliban takeover in 2021, Sharif worked in Afghanistan. When the group took Kabul, he and his family fled to Pakistan. Having previously worked for international governments, Sharif is being sought by the Taliban. Years ago, the German government had assured Afghans who had worked for the Bundeswehr, German press outlets, and human rights NGOs, that they would be admitted to the country. Sharif's application was approved, but the process has dragged on for an agonizingly long time.

As of 3pm on 1 July, it is impossible for Afghan people who worked with the British army to seek refuge in the UK. They were promised refuge, but it is no longer available.