UN agency urges Pakistan to halt expulsion of Afghan refugees

The UN refugee agency has urged Pakistan to halt the deportation of undocumented Afghan refugees during the harsh winter season, as police searched homes and expelled Afghans who had not already left.

Islamabad announced last month that it would deport over a million undocumented refugees, mostly Afghans, amid a dispute with Kabul over allegations that it harbors anti-Pakistan militants.

According to reports, over 370,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan since October 1.

The agency’s regional spokesperson, Babar Baloch, stated, “UNHCR is calling upon the government of Pakistan to halt these mass numbers of returns during this harsh season of winter because the cold in Afghanistan is really deadly and it can take lives.”

The agency has said the Afghans’ return should be voluntary and that Pakistan should identify vulnerable individuals who need international protection.

Report says Pakistan is home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom are undocumented.

However, Pakistani police have been searching door-to-door in refugee settlements for those who have not left voluntarily, beginning with the port city of Karachi, where hundreds of thousands of Afghans live.

Since the US-led Western forces withdrew from Afghanistan in a chaotic and hurried manner in 2021, thousands of Afghans have fled to Pakistan in order to avoid deportation out of fear for their lives.

International organizations and refugee agencies have called on Islamabad to reevaluate its deportation plans, but the country has not complied with them thus far.

According to a court order released on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has accepted a petition submitted by human rights activists asking for the deportation to be stopped. The petition will not be heard just yet.