ISLAMABAD: The Peshawar High Court has barred authorities from arresting and deporting an Afghan citizen undergoing cancer treatment in Pakistan for 30 days, his lawyer said on Monday, clarifying that the verdict was issued on humanitarian grounds.
Anar Gul, 71, has been living in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat valley with his wife and son for decades. Gul is among several Afghan citizens who fled their country to Pakistan since the 1980s and onwards to escape war and persecution. He was living in Pakistan on the basis of a Proof of Registration (PoR) card identity cards issued by Islamabad for Afghan citizens. PoR cards allowed temporary legal stay and freedom of movement to Afghan citizens.
Pakistan launched a nationwide deportation drive in October 2023, ordering undocumented foreigners, the overwhelming majority of them Afghans, to leave the country or face removal. According to the UN Refugee Agency, over 2.4 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan to their country since then.
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Mingora Bench in Swat, comprising Justice Salahud Din and Justice Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah, disposed a petition against the deportation by Gul, his wife and son on July 22. As per court documents submitted by the Afghan nationals, Gul is suffering from high-grade B-cell lymphoma, affecting his left temporal lobe for which he has been receiving chemotherapy for central nervous system lymphoma.
“The court has barred authorities from arresting and deporting Anar Gul, his wife and their son because he is suffering from advanced-stage cancer and is undergoing treatment at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad,” Imran Khan Mosakhail, his lawyer, told Arab News.
In the written order seen by Arab News, the high court acknowledged that the family lacked valid immigration status. However, it said Gul was undergoing treatment for a serious medical condition at a recognized hospital in Pakistan.
“Although petitioners presently lack a valid immigration status, their claim is founded upon an ongoing and serious medical condition of petitioner No. 1 for which he is statedly receiving specialized treatment at a recognized medical institution in Pakistan,” the order added.
The court said any decision on allowing the family to remain in Pakistan, on medical grounds, rests with the relevant government authorities.
It directed the petitioners to immediately apply for a medical visa from Pakistani authorities or seek permission from the interior ministry to remain in the country until Gul’s treatment is completed.
Pending a decision on that front, the court ordered that Gul, his wife and their son should not be arrested or deported for 30 days from the date of the order issued on July 22.
Pakistani launched its deportation drive amid a spate of suicide attacks and surge in militancy in the country in October 2023. Officials have repeatedly argued that militants involved in attacks inside Pakistan have used Afghan territory as a base and that some Afghan nationals have been linked to security incidents, allegations the Taliban-led government in Kabul has consistently denied.
Islamabad has also cited the economic burden of hosting millions of Afghan refugees for more than four decades as a reason for tightening immigration enforcement. Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, making it one of the world’s largest refugee-hosting countries for decades.
The deportation campaign has drawn criticism from the United Nations and human rights organizations, which have raised concerns about forced returns, while Pakistani authorities maintain the policy applies to foreigners residing illegally in the country and is necessary for national security and immigration enforcement.
