Muhammad Jibran Nasir alongside several politicians and rights activists appealed to the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday challenging the “mass deportation” of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers by the caretaker government.
The 13 member committee filed a petition with before Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Apex Committee under the caretaker government, in favor of mass deportation of Afghan Refugees. The press release read “We have prayed that protection be given to registered refugees whereas those whose asylum applications are pending may also not be deported and instead their applications should be expedited. We have further sought protection for all those who we consider have a birth right to be considered Pakistan Nationals having been born in this country”.
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The 13 member panel includes Pakistan Peoples Party former senator Farhatullah Babar, Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, rights activist Amina Masood Janjua, Jibran Nasir, Pastor Ghazala Parveen, lawyer Iman Zainab Mazari, amongst others. Advocate Umer Gillani will be leading the case on their behalf. The petition filed in the Supreme Court, seeks suo motu against the caretaker government’s policies of mass deportation that is directed towards deporting Afghan refugees back to their country, deeming their presence in Pakistan as ‘illegal’.
Petitioners challenged the decision to deport Afghan refugees, challenging policy against “illegal residents and asylum seekers” living in the country for decades. “It is reversal of Pakistan’s 40-year-old policy,” they said, claiming that no legal framework or law allows such mass deportation without a proper “mechanism” of first distinguishing between refugees and birthright citizens.
