Kabul: Around 1,000 Afghan Migrants Deported from Pakistan, Iran

Afghan refugees arrive in trucks and cars to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
Afghan refugees arrive in trucks and cars to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
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Kabul: Around 1,000 Afghan Migrants Deported from Pakistan, Iran

Afghan refugees arrive in trucks and cars to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
Afghan refugees arrive in trucks and cars to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on October 31, 2023. (AFP)

The Afghani Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs announced on Monday that nearly a thousand Afghan migrants returned to the country after being expelled by Pakistan, the Khaama news agency said.
According to a newsletter released by the ministry on Sunday, 913 Afghan migrants residing in Pakistan have entered the country.
The newspaper also said the migrants who had been expelled returned to the country on May 5th.
Both Pakistan and Iran have recently intensified the expulsion of Afghan citizens from their territories, with hundreds of Afghans, including families and individuals, entering the country daily through various border crossings.
Pakistan and Iran consistently cite the lack of legal documentation for residency in their countries as the primary reason for the expulsion of Afghan migrants.
Meanwhile, the Afghan refugees who were forcibly deported from Iran have complained of inhumane treatment at the hands of the Iranian government. They reported being beaten by Iranian government forces. Baseer, a refugee who spent two years in Iran and was recently deported with his three children, said, “When they wanted to search us, I resisted, and they beat me.”
He told the Afghan Tolo television channel on Sunday, “Now, I don't know if my rib is broken. I can't even lift two kilograms.”
Some Afghan migrants in Pakistan also expressed concern about the growing challenges they face and asked for international attention to the plight of Afghan migrants.
Late last month, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations said more than two thousand Afghan migrants have re-entered the country after being expelled by the governments of Pakistan and Iran.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Red Cross donated $100,000 to assist recent flood victims in the country.
According to the Chinese ambassador in Kabul, the country's Red Cross deposited this money with Mullah Nuruddin Turabi, the Deputy of the Red Crescent of Afghanistan. Previously, China had announced that it would send 100 million yuan to “address humanitarian challenges.”
China has had good relations with Afghanistan in the past two years, and Chinese officials have repeatedly visited Afghanistan to expand political, economic, and transit relations with authorities.
In the past two years, Beijing has helped Kabul with education, health, construction, and sending humanitarian aid.



Families of Israeli Detainees Accuse Netanyahu of Misleading Trump to Evade Hostage Deal

US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
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Families of Israeli Detainees Accuse Netanyahu of Misleading Trump to Evade Hostage Deal

US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)

Families of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip accused on Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of presenting to US President-elect Donald Trump misleading information about the fate of the prisoners to evade a hostage deal under US pressure.

This came after reports issued last week said Trump did not know that half of the Israeli detainees held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were alive.

Israel's Channel 13 said Monday that while the US and Israel are focused on negotiations to end the war in Lebanon, the file of Israeli prisoners in Gaza remains stalled amid declining efforts to conclude a deal.

“This situation angers the families and drives them crazy; they see that the government, which has turned its back on the prisoners' file for 416 days, is working with all its might to prevent a deal with Hamas despite knowing fully well that this means threatening the lives of the prisoners,” the channel said.

Sources close to Trump confirmed to the channel his interest in the prisoners' case.

However, they added, Tel Aviv is telling the upcoming administration that most of the prisoners were killed in order to evade concluding a hostage deal with Hamas, under US pressure, after the inauguration of the new administration on January 20.

The channel said that at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, some compared Trump to President Ronald Reagan, who ended the Iran hostage crisis after taking power in 1981.

It added that during his election campaign, Trump repeatedly said that Hamas' attacks on Israel would “never have happened” if he were president. He had also promised to release the hostages in Gaza.

An official close to President Isaac Herzog had earlier revealed that Trump did not know about the fate of the Israeli captives.

The official said that when Herzog called to congratulate Trump on his election, he heard the President-elect say that the abductees had been killed while in Hamas captivity.

To Trump’s surprise, Herzog replied that more than half were still alive.

Therefore, the Israelis concluded that Netanyahu misled Trump by telling him that most of the captives were dead.

“I can confirm, based on sources I speak with, that Israeli government officials are informing Trump and his team that the majority of the hostages were killed,” said the father of a captured soldier, Rubi Chen.

He said the government is using this approach to reduce any potential pressure from the Trump administration on Israel to reach a hostage deal.

Gil Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and killed in captivity, wrote on X, “Who is spreading these lies? Who convinces Trump that the hostages are dead? Instead of returning everyone quickly, dead or alive, you waited until the hostages were killed in captivity, and now you lie and say that most of them are dead to justify abandoning them again.”

At a press conference marking one year since the hostage deal that brought 81 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals home, released hostage Raz Ben Ami, said, “if they could only manage to understand what it is to be in subhuman conditions in the tunnels, surrounded by terrorists for 54 days – there is no way they would let the hostages stay there for 415 days.

Earlier, Israeli Democratic Party leader Yair Golan warned that Netanyahu's government is trying to reach a settlement in the north to foil a deal with Hamas in Gaza.