The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent article in its July 15 edition to the plight of thousands of Afghan refugees who are being deported to their native country by officials in neighboring Pakistan.
The refugees “are sent back to their home country unceremoniously, men, women, children, and entire families alike,” Federico Piana reported. “Often, in the transit camps where they are held before being pushed across the border into the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, they are kept in chains.”
Repatriation, Piana added, is “extremely dangerous; the deportees include former employees of the previous Afghan government, former security force members, journalists, activists, judges, and women active in public life, people who, according to many humanitarian organizations, could face reprisals or discrimination from the Taliban government.”