PESHAWAR:
Pakistan has started to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, in a move that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from the country.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that it had received reports of arrests and expulsions of legally registered Afghans across the country before Pakistan’s September 1 deadline for them to leave.
The UNHCR said that sending the Afghans back in this way was a breach of Pakistan’s international obligations. “UNHCR is calling on the government to stop the forcible return and adopt a humane approach to ensure voluntary, gradual, and dignified return of Afghans,” it said in a statement.
The voluntary return of the documented refugees shall commence forthwith, said an interior ministry order seen by Reuters. It said the formal deportation process will start after the deadline.
But Qaisar Khan Afridi, a spokesman for the UNHCR, told Reuters on Wednesday that hundreds of legally registered Afghan refugees had already been detained and deported to Afghanistan from August 1 to August 4.
The interior ministry did not respond a Reuters request for a comment.
“Such massive and hasty return could jeopardize the lives and freedom of Afghan refugees, while also risking instability not only in Afghanistan but across the region,” UNHRC said.
Afghanistan has rejected the accusations, and has termed the repatriations as forced deportation. In addition to the repatriation from Pakistan, Afghanistan also faces a fresh wave of mass deportations from Iran. Aid groups worry that the influx risks further destabilising the country.
