Female Afghan prosecutors who served the fallen pro-Western Afghan government are concerned about being deported from Pakistan to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan more than two years after they fled the country because of fears of persecution.
The Committee of Afghan Women Prosecutors in Pakistan, meeting in Islamabad on November 21, said it is worried about the fate of hundreds of former prosecutors if they are forced to leave Pakistan as part of an ongoing drive to deport more than 1.7 million “undocumented foreigners” who are predominantly Afghan.
The former prosecutors, who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, have become targets of the criminals they investigated or helped convict.
Maria Safi, a senior member of the committee, said the ongoing forced deportation of thousands of Afghans from Pakistan daily are extremely worrying.
“This situation has forced us to face grave mental and emotional problems,” she said.
Safi said the prosecutors want Western embassies in Islamabad to process their immigration visas swiftly.
Former prosecutors estimate that more than 300 former Afghan prosecutors currently live in Pakistan. At least 30 among them are women.
They are among tens of thousands of Afghans in Islamabad waiting for Western embassies in the city to process their applications.
“We want them to not only process the cases of prosecutors, judges, and lawyers but all refugees,” she added.
Pakistani authorities have said these Afghans are exempt from deportation. But in Islamabad many Afghans pursuing their visa cases have complained of police harassment, bribes, and even forced expulsions.
“Pakistani authorities are not renewing our visas, which is a major headache,” said Muska Amiri, a former Afghan prosecutor.
“I have stopped leaving my house to avoid facing the police,” she added.
Farahnaz Hashimi, another former prosecutor, says returning to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan she fled in late 2021 is not an option.
“I’m afraid that if I’m sent back to Afghanistan, I might be arrested by the Taliban,” she said.
Pakistani and Taliban officials confirmed on November 20 that more than 400,000 people returned to their countries after Islamabad first announced its ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners on October 3.