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From Our Own Correspondent: Afghan migrants in limbo in Pakistan

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Karachi, Pakistan on 06 October 2023.

14/10/2023 GMT

Afghan migrants in limbo in Pakistan

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Afghan migrants in limbo in Pakistan

Translators who helped the British Army in Afghanistan are living in limbo in Pakistan.

The Afghan translators waiting for UK visas; Sri Lankans still struggling after the crisis; the after-effects of Storm Daniel in Greece; and reintroducing white rhinos to the DRC.

Pascale Harter introduces dispatches from correspondents in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Greece and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The Pakistan government is counting the days until it says it will begin to deport all illegal migrants - which includes, according to the government’s own figures, some 1.7m Afghans. Caught up in this are nearly 2,000 Afghans who risked their lives working with, or for, the British armed forces and government organisations during the war in Afghanistan. They are waiting for the UK government to issues them with visa, to permit their safe resettlement in the UK. Caroline Davies has been speaking to them. 

Sri Lanka has been suffering the worst economic crisis in its history as an independent nation. Sri Lankans have endured power cuts, food and fuel shortages, rising prices and rapid inflation. After loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the country’s financial situation is improving, but when Archana Shukla travelled across the island, she discovered many people are still struggling to make ends meet. 

Thessaly in Greece was one of the regions that was hit hardest by Storm Daniel last month, with swathes of farmland submerged under water. The region is known as Greece's 'breadbasket', as it provides much of the country's agricultural produce and livestock. Maria Margaronis spoke to farmers whose livelihoods were upended by the recent floods. 

And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hugh Kinsella-Cunningham camps with heavily armed rangers, as they await the arrival of two VIPs on a jungle airstrip - two white rhinoceros - which are being reintroduced to the region as part of conservation efforts. 

(Image: Afghan refugees getting ready to leave Karachi following the Pakistani government's decision to deport those illegally staying in the country. Karachi, Pakistan on 06 October 2023. Credit: Sabir Mazhar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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