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Pakistani authorities started conducting sudden home raids on the properties of Uyghurs dwelling in Rawalpindi simply earlier than a authorities order to expel all unlawful migrants who had not left the nation by the beginning of November took impact, in response to Uyghurs concerned within the matter.
Officers issued a warning in early October, stating that migrants with no authorized residence allow in Pakistan needed to depart by Nov. 1 or face deportation.
The measure impacts almost 20 Uyghur households — or about 100 people — dwelling in Rawalpindi, the fourth most populous metropolis in Pakistan.
Pakistani officers issued the expulsion order after dozens of individuals have been killed in two suicide bombings in late September. Although they mentioned that almost all such bombings this yr have been performed by Afghan nationals, they determined to expel all migrants with no legitimate residence allow – together with 1.73 million Afghan refugees – in the event that they didn’t depart on their very own.
A lot of the affected Uyghurs are descendants of people who migrated a long time in the past from Xinjiang to Afghanistan and later to Pakistan. They lack Afghan or Chinese language passports and Pakistani residence permits.
The Uyghurs, who’ve been dwelling in a state of uncertainty in Pakistan for the previous month, mentioned authorities started sudden home raids at midnight on Oct. 31.
“They’re raiding properties at midnight or at 1 or 2 o’clock,” mentioned a Uyghur man named Turghunjan who’s married and has two daughters and a son. “The landlords are additionally telling us to depart, however we may have nowhere to sleep.”
Landlords who hire properties to the Uyghurs reported a few of them to the authorities, and on Nov. 1, a person named Amanullah was detained throughout a home search by police as a part of the hassle to research unlawful migrants, the Uyghurs mentioned. Police launched Amanullah on bail 5 hours later.
It stays unclear if authorities will deport the Uyghur households.
Stopped by police
Turghunjan, a relative of Amanullah, mentioned he was abruptly stopped by police on his manner dwelling from work on the night of Oct. 31, throughout which the officers checked his identification and warned him of a possible search the next day.
“Whereas I used to be on my manner dwelling, the police stopped me and requested me questions,” he mentioned. “They slapped me on the face three or 4 instances and mentioned they’d search me after Nov. 1.”
“We aren’t Afghan, and in the event that they deport us, the place will we go?” he requested.
RFA couldn’t attain police in Rawalpindi for remark.
The Uyghur households are involved that their security shall be in danger underneath present Taliban management if Pakistani authorities deport them to Afghanistan. Additionally they worry being pressured again to China, the place Uyghurs within the far-western Xinjiang area face repression and are subjected to extreme rights abuses.
“They don’t seem to be leaving their properties, [and] the landlords are reporting them to the police,” mentioned Omer Khan, founding father of the Pakistan-based Omer Uyghur Belief, who has been helping the households.
Although police have threatened some Uyghurs over the previous days, they haven’t but arrested or deported anybody, he mentioned.
The Uyghurs sought assist from the U.N. refugee company’s workplace in Pakistan for years with out success. However this October, the company collected their names, addresses, and particulars about their households, following an early October report about their plight by Radio Free Asia.
On the time, the company additionally mentioned it was investigating the state of affairs of the Uyghur households going through deportation in the event that they did not adjust to the federal government order expelling all unlawful migrants.
Khan mentioned he obtained a reassuring name from a consultant of the U.N. refugee company, formally the U.N. Excessive Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, on Nov. 2 whereas the Uyghurs confronted harassment by police.
“We didn’t ask them to come back and take us,” he mentioned. “We simply want a response and resolution from the U.N. about refugee standing.”
Neither the U.N.’s refugee company in Geneva, Switzerland, nor its workplace in Pakistan responded to inquiries from RFA.
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
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