The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has urged the Pakistani government to stop the forced deportation of 1.3 million Afghan refugees who are officially registered with the UN.
UNHCR emphasized that these individuals have been recognized as refugees for decades. Forcing their return to Afghanistan would violate humanitarian principles and breach the assurances given to allow their continued stay in Pakistan, the agency said in a statement.
Earlier, the Pakistani government announced that starting September 1, it would begin repatriating and deporting more than 1.3 million Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. These cards were the basis for their official right to live in Pakistan without a visa, but expired on June 30, making them now considered undocumented refugees.
According to UNHCR data, since September 2023, over 800,000 Afghan migrants have returned from Pakistan. More than 527,000 were deported by authorities, while the rest left voluntarily.
Over the past 40 years, more than 4 million Afghan refugees have arrived in Pakistan under the Geneva Convention. Currently, 1.7 million lack legal residency documents, approximately 1.3 million hold PoR cards, and nearly 1 million have refugee status permitting them to remain in the country.
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Based on materials from TASS