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☆ Pakistan speeds up Afghans' repatriation after deadline expires
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Mushtaq Ali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Those arriving in Afghanistan complained of hardships they had to face to move out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future. We had very bad situation," said Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in the southwestern Pakistani border town of Chaman where he had a retail business. Pakistani authorities started rounding up foreigners, most of them Afghans, hours before the deadline. Khan, the official, said 19,744 Afghans had crossed the Torkham border on Thursday, 147,949 in total since the government announced the deadline. More than 35,000 undocumented Afghans have left through another southwestern Pakistani border crossing at Chaman.

Persons: Abdul Nasir Khan, Mohammad Ismael Rafi, Rafi, Sarfraz, Khan, Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Kim Coghill, Nick Macfie Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, Kabul, Reuters, Authorities, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, International, Thomson Locations: burqa, Pakistan, UNHCR, Azakhel, Nowshera, PESHAWAR, Afghanistan, Torkham, Khyber, Pakistani, Chaman, Kandahar, Helmand province, Peshawar, U.S, Karachi, Kabul

☆ ‘There is no school for girls’: Afghans who fled to Pakistan sent back to a homeland that is foreign to many
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Sophia Saifi | Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“I was born in Pakistan, I’ve lived here for 42 years, I went to school in Pakistan,” said Nasim, who had traveled to the Torkham border crossing from the northern city Peshawar. Nasim, who was born and raised in Pakistan, and is now preparing to return to Afghanistan. International bodies and human rights groups have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster as they return. He hoped the Taliban would greet those forced out of Pakistan and help them find new jobs. The steady deterioration of human rights under the Taliban since its return to power have only confirmed the worst fears of many Afghans.

Persons: I’ve, ”, Nasim, “ I’ve, –, “, ” Nasim, Abdul Basit, Sarfraz Bugti, Ravina Shamdasani, Wakil Kohsar, Ghulam Sakhi, we’ve, Raza Muhammad, ” Muhammad, Akhtar Muhammad, Zahid Bahand, can’t, I’m Organizations: Pakistan CNN, CNN, ”, Getty, Security, Authorities, United Nations, Human Rights, Rights Watch, ” CNN, Interior Ministry, “ Police, UN, International Organization for Migration, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taliban Locations: Chaman, Pakistan, Pakistan’s, Peshawar, Afghanistan, ”, Quetta, “, Soviet, States, AFP, Afghan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Balochistan’s, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Kabul

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces on Wednesday rounded up, detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally, after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired, authorities said. According to the U.N. agencies, there are more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration have become strained over the past two years because of stepped-up attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, a separate militant group that is allied with the Afghan Taliban. Since the government deadline was announced on October 3, more than 200,000 Afghans have returned home from Pakistan. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Persons: Sarfraz Bugti, ”, Zabihullah Mujahid, ” Mujahid, “, Ahmad Banwari, Banwari, ___ Khan, Rahim Faiez, Abdul Sattar Organizations: ” Interim, Taliban, Afghanistan’s, Pakistani Taliban, Associated Press Locations: ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghanistan, “, ”, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, The New York, Kabul, Nangarhar, Pakistani, Taliban Pakistan, United States, Peshawar, Quetta

☆ Pakistan finalises plan to extradite illegal immigrants as Nov 1 deadline nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Afghan women who are living in Pakistan wait to get registered during a proof of registration drive at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Peshawar, Pakistan September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan has finalised a plan to extradite all illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals, as the Nov. 1 deadline approaches, the caretaker interior minister said on Thursday. "It is a challenging task," interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti told a news conference in Islamabad, adding Pakistan was determined to remove all illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for years, will be processed at temporary centres being set up by the government, while those leaving voluntarily will be helped to leave Pakistan. Islamabad announced the removal of the illegal immigrants in October, saying they would not be allowed to stay after Nov 1.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Sarfraz Bugti, Asif Shahzad, Sakshi Dayal, Sonali Paul, Michael Perry Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Peshawar, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad

REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Friday that it would repatriate all illegal immigrants including hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals in orderly phases rather than in one go. She did not have exact data on the total number of illegal immigrants, including Afghans. Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Tuesday some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan had no legal documents and the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan totalled 4.4 million. Pakistan has hosted the largest number of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979. Pakistan's foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani defended the order for the departure of illegal immigrants, saying no other country allowed illegal immigrants to stay and live.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, frayed, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Sarfraz Bugti, Bugti, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Hong, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo, Robert Birsel, William Maclean Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, REUTERS, Rights, Aid, Phoenix TV, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Peshawar, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Kabul, Afghanistan, U.S, Tibet, Beijing

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Pakistan, home to more than 1.7 million people who have fled violence in neighboring Afghanistan, is launching a mass deportation of “illegal immigrants,” authorities said Tuesday. But their presence in Pakistan has long been controversial, with police crackdowns and threats of deportation in previous years. Hundreds of Afghans have already been deported from Pakistan this year, according to volunteer groups, citing local records. Many Afghans fled the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979, settling in Pakistan during the biggest refugee crisis in the world at the time. “It is deeply concerning that the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention.”

Persons: Sarfraz Bugti, ”, Bugti, Rizwan Tabassum Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, United Nations ’, Getty, National Apex Committee, Nonprofit, Amnesty Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Afghanistan, Karachi, AFP, Soviet, Kabul, United States

Rescue workers clear the rubble from a damaged mosque, after a suicide blast in Hangu, Pakistan September 29, 2023. It was not immediately clear how Pakistani authorities could ensure the illegal immigrants leave, or how they could find them to expel them. Bugti said some 1.73 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan had no legal documents to stay, adding a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan. "There are no two opinions that we are attacked from within Afghanistan and Afghan nationals are involved in attacks on us," he said. Islamabad has received the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.

Persons: Stringer, Sarfraz Bugti, Bugti, Asif Shahzad, Jon Boyle, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Afghan, State, Thomson Locations: Hangu, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Taliban Pakistan, Afghan

☆ Unstable markets drag Canadian M&A, debt issuance to four-year low
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Maiya Keidan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The collapse of regional banks Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the U.S. tightened credit market making funding difficult for deals. As the banking crisis abate and many global central banks move to the sidelines to assess the impact of rapid interest rates hikes, bankers are, however, betting that appetite for dealmaking would return. Canadian M&A volumes totalled $34.7 billion in the first quarter, down 52.3% from a year ago, with dealmaking off to the worst start since the same period in 2020. Some market participants noted the second quarter is already off to a stronger start, with the mining sector gathering momentum. Abeed Ramji, head of Canadian Debt Capital Markets at TD, said the lack of issuance from banks impacted the corporate debt market, adding that global markets had become more expensive for financing.

☆ Dealmakers face pressure to clinch M&A quickly in volatile markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Maiya Keidan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HSBC wrapped up the deal in just eights weeks after saying it was considering selling its Canadian business in early October. From its first contact, RBC, Canada's biggest lender, told HSBC it could close the deal quickly if selected, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. After the final bids went in around mid-November, RBC said it could turn everything around in a week, the person added. In the United States, deal timelines fell by almost 30% to 66 days this year from last year, where transactions took more than one day to close, the data shows. Deal announcements are one thing but getting all the regulatory approvals to close a deal are another matter altogether.

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