RASC News Agency: Mullah Hebatullah, the clandestine leader of the Taliban group, has issued a directive ordering officials of the group to facilitate the relocation of expelled migrants from Pakistan to several provinces in Afghanistan. Following the mass expulsion of thousands of Afghanistani migrants from Pakistan, Mullah Hebatullah, the designated leader of the Taliban, has tasked the group’s authorities with allocating land in the northern provinces of Balkh, Takhar, Faryab, Jowzjan, and Baghlan to accommodate the displaced migrants. The directive states, “Based on information from the Independent Land Administration and the Ministry of Migrants, it is currently feasible to relocate returning migrants from Pakistan to northern provinces such as Balkh, Takhar, Jowzjan, Faryab, and Baghlan due to the surplus of available land in these areas.”
This directive, issued in response to the ongoing forced expulsion of migrants from Pakistan, underscores the Taliban’s commitment to addressing the plight of Afghanistani migrants who have been away from their homeland for extended periods and have faced numerous challenges in their lives. The leader of the Taliban group has ordered the distribution of land in the northern provinces to meet the needs of Pashtun Afghanistani migrants expelled from Pakistan, as verified by multiple sources within Pakistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, which confirms that only Pashtun Afghanistani migrants have been targeted for expulsion, while other Afghanistani migrants without legal documentation residing in Pakistan have not been affected.
A reliable source within the Ministry of Agriculture of the Taliban group informed the RASC News Agency that all available biometric data obtained from expelled migrants from Pakistan at the Spin Boldak and Torkham borders indicate that all the affected families belong to a specific ethnic group. The Pakistani government has so far not expelled migrants from other ethnic groups residing in the country. Another section of the directive states that a joint commission, including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Migrants, the Independent Land Administration, and the Intelligence Directorate of the group, has been formed to address the problems faced by the expelled Pashtuns from Pakistan and oversee their land distribution. The commission is responsible for reporting to the Office of the Chief Ministers of the Taliban group on the progress and recommendations regarding the resettlement of these migrants.
On the other hand, the RASC News Agency interviewed several families of Tajik and Hazara descent who have migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan since the Taliban takeover. They reported that they have not encountered any problems such as detention or forced expulsion by Pakistani security forces. The families emphasized that the Pakistani security forces are solely focused on identifying and transferring Pashtun families out of the country.
In contrast, political observers have highlighted the Pakistani government’s expulsion of Afghanistani immigrants. Additionally, Iran has been regularly deporting Afghanistani migrants, sending them back to their country. However, the Taliban has not shown any willingness to cooperate or provide assistance to these individuals. They appear solely focused on distributing aid to the Pashtuns expelled from Pakistan in northern Afghanistan.
According to reports from Iranian media, nearly 700,000 migrants have been expelled from Iran since the beginning of the current solar year. Yet, the Taliban has taken no action regarding their return, living difficulties, or displacement. Moreover, they lack any statistics on these expelled migrants from Iran. Concerns from political analysts have been raised regarding the collaboration between the Taliban and the Pakistani military intelligence organization in relocating the Waziri Pashtuns to northern Afghanistan. These analysts argue that the marking of the five northern provinces for the relocation of Waziri and southern Pashtuns is a planned scenario orchestrated by the hidden leader of the Taliban group, who is working in coordination with the Pakistani government. These observers hold strong beliefs that the expulsion program of Afghanistani Pashtuns by the Pakistani government, disguised as the “expulsion of Afghani migrants,” is a deceptive tactic with potentially dire consequences for Afghanistan’s present and future, particularly in the north.
Shamsurahman Feruten, a sociologist and university professor, asserts, “Pashtunizing northern Afghanistan is part of the intelligence agencies’ objectives in the region, including the Pakistani military intelligence organization, who seeks to create insecurity in Afghanistan and achieve political objectives within the country.” According to this social observer, the Taliban nationalists may only be satisfied with the immediate results of this intelligence game, which involves seizing homes, land, and territories of non-Pashtun ethnic groups. However, they fail to grasp the broader consequences, such as the Afghanistani people, including Pashtuns, wanting to avoid being engulfed in the fires of war sparked by this Pakistani relocation. These actions will undoubtedly have adverse effects on the entire population of Afghanistan. Mr. Feruten states, “The presence of relocated Pashtuns in the north is temporary, and once the despotic tribal authority is removed from the people of the north, they will stand against the Pashtuns. They will not allow their homes, land, and livelihoods to be exploited by foreigners.”
Furthermore, Mr. Feruten emphasizes, “The relocated Pashtuns must understand that the north is not their rightful land and home. The lands they have seized belong to the true owners, who have inhabited these areas for thousands of years. These lands are deeply rooted in the cultural, political, and identity heritage of the Tajiks. It would be wise for the Pashtuns to refrain from encroaching into these areas at this time.” According to Mr. Feruten’s beliefs, since the Taliban regime lacks both internal and international legitimacy, the documents distributed by this group to the Pashtuns from Waziristan for the seizure of Tajik people’s lands in the north carry no legal validity. They cannot be considered as valid property titles in the future.
