Pakistani Court Suspends Deportation Of 150 Afghan Singers & Musicians

A Pakistani court on Friday ordered a halt to the deportation of 150 Afghan singers and musicians for at least two months.

The court has ordered Pakistani authorities to refrain from deporting the artists until their asylum claims are processed.

The Associated Press on Friday, January 10, quoted Mumtaz Ahmad, a lawyer who has followed up on the cases of 150 Afghan artists, as saying that the court ruling is the first of its kind. According to him, these people had been living in an uncertain situation in Pakistan since 2023.

These artists are among about half a million people who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.

According to the court ruling, Pakistan is obliged to decide on the applications of 150 Afghan musicians and singers within the next two months, Mumtaz Ahmad said. Also, these artists have the right to register themselves with the United Nations Refugee Agency and receive refugee status.

Hashmat Ali, an Afghan singer, told The Associated Press, "I am very happy and grateful to the court. I hope that I will not face harassment and forced deportation now," he said, adding that Afghan singers and musicians would not be safe if they were deported to Afghanistan.

Pakistan, like many countries in the world, has not yet recognised the Taliban. According to the Associated Press, the country has deported more than 800,000 undocumented Afghans to Afghanistan in the past 18 months.

The Taliban has declared playing, listening to music, and producing it as "haram". The group has arrested and tortured some musicians during their three-year rule of Afghanistan.