Tajik media outlets have reported that residents of Mehrabad township in Jabbar Rasulov district of Sughd province said that on May 4, all Afghan citizens living there estimated between 200 and 250 people were gathered and transferred to an unknown location.
The reports added that the incident occurred after an Afghan citizen was arrested on charges of killing a woman in the city of Khujand, the capital of Sughd province.
Part of the Tajik media report states: “Residents of Mehrabad township in Jabbar Rasulov district of Sughd province, who have lived alongside Afghan migrants for several years, say that on May 4 authorities from several institutions transferred all Afghan citizens from the area.”
Meanwhile, Afghans residing in camps in Qatar have called on the United States to fulfill its commitments regarding the relocation of Afghan migrants to the U.S.
Elsewhere, Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, described the deportation of refugees to Afghanistan as not only a humanitarian failure but also a strategic mistake.
She said: “Deportations to Afghanistan are not only a humanitarian failure but also a strategic mistake. If Europe sends young Afghans back into poverty and despair, many of them may ultimately become dependent on the only structures that still provide shelter and food.”
Ali Reza Karimi, another migrant rights activist, said: “The international community must act responsibly, uphold humanitarian principles, support Afghan migrants, and prevent their forced deportation.”
This comes as European media previously reported that Austria is attempting to finalize a plan to deport Afghan migrants through Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, Britain, the European Union, and Germany have in recent months announced talks and measures regarding the return of Afghan asylum seekers, and Germany deported a number of Afghan migrants to Kabul last month.
