He called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and reiterated his call for the two countries to “resolve any differences through diplomacy.”
Following the call for dialogue between Kabul and Islamabad, Summit Council for Human Rights This was stated by the independent expert on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett Rising tensions between the two countries have increased the difficulties and dangers for Afghans forced to return to their country.
Fearful future
“I was recently in Pakistan, I spoke to Afghans there, who are also like that extremely afraid for their future” he said.
“They believe that returning to Afghanistan will not only mean a life of poverty, but that they face a real risk of violent retaliatory attacks for certain groups, human rights defenders, journalists, security service members, and for previous government security forces. And we have seen an increase in recent months.”
The independent special rapporteur on Afghanistan, who does not work for the UN and is not paid for his work, called for “cool heads” amid rising regional and geopolitical tensions, and underlined the hope that “third parties will be listened to”.
In recent years, Afghanistan has seen large numbers of nationals – estimated at 2.7 million by 2025 – return from neighboring countries, including Pakistan, whose planes reportedly hit major cities such as Kabul and Kandahar overnight into Friday.
Pakistan’s defense minister said Friday that his country is now engaged in an “open war” with Afghanistan. There have been months of sporadic clashes across the border, despite a ceasefire being declared last October.
Humanitarian hardship
The dramatic escalation will increase hardship for the Afghan people, Mr. Bennett noted, highlighting the disastrous humanitarian conditions they face, linked to the return of the Taliban in August 2021.
Healthcare is just one area of daily life that is deeply and negatively affected by the de facto authorities, whose decrees supposedly aimed at promoting virtue and tackling vice outside the country have been widely condemned as a form of gender apartheid that has serious consequences for women and girls.
“In many parts of the country, medical treatment is segregated, so that women have to be treated by other women, and men by men” Mr. Bennett explained. “There has been a reduction in the number of medical workers overall, not just doctors; we are talking about midwives, nurses, the entire healthcare system.”
While there is some evidence that the Taliban’s restrictive health care decrees are not applied rigorously everywhere, “it is not just the treatment, but also the go to treatment [that] is problematic; There are such restrictions on freedom of movement,” Mr Bennett explained.
Afghanistan’s healthcare system was already fragile before the Taliban overran Kabul after decades of conflict, poverty and underinvestment, Mr Bennett continued, underscoring the risk of a “complete health catastrophe, especially for women and girls”.
#Fears #growing #among #ordinary #Afghans #clashes #Pakistan