As the Supreme Court gears up to address a case challenging the mass deportation of Afghan nationals today, a new petition was submitted on Thursday. This fresh plea requests the court to declare that children born in Pakistan to Afghan parents should be granted citizenship in accordance with section 4 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951.
The three-judge bench, led by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ayesha A. Malik, is scheduled to hear the plea initiated by former senator Farhatullah Babar, represented by counsel Umer Ijaz Gilani.
This latest filing, driven by faculty members of LUMS in the public interest, specifically advocates for underprivileged Afghan individuals residing in Pakistan. Submitted by Uzair J Kayani, Sadaf Aziz, Ali Raza, Angbeen Mirza, Madiha Tallat, and Aisha Ahmad, the joint petition contends that the government’s decision to deport Afghans en masse on October 3 is in violation of section 230 of the Elections Act 2017 and, therefore, lacks legal validity.
The plea calls on the Supreme Court to declare the mass deportation as a breach of sections 3, 4, 9, and 14(2) of the Foreigners Act 1946, rendering it unconstitutional. Additionally, the petition seeks a restraining order against the federal and provincial governments, as well as all law enforcement agencies, to prevent the implementation of the deportation decision. It urges a return to the previous asylum application processing procedure, conducted in collaboration with the UNHCR under past agreements, until a suitable asylum and refugee legislation consistent with Pakistan’s international obligations is enacted by parliament.
Regardless of their legal status, the petition argues that even if considered aliens or foreigners, the federal government is obligated to treat Afghan refugees in accordance with the Constitution and international law. The current government decision not only fails to meet these standards but directly contradicts constitutional and international legal requirements concerning these individuals.
According to the petition, as of November 2023, the UNHCR estimates that there are around 1.3 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan. Contrarily, the federal government suggests that this number has risen to 1.7 million out of the total 4.4 million Afghan refugees residing in the country. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, approximately 600,000 new Afghan citizens have entered Pakistan, with 300,000 attempting to register as refugees with the UNHCR, although such registrations have not been permitted.
