UN: No refugee should be forced to leave Pakistan

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): The United Nations has expressed concern about Pakistan’s decision to evict undocumented refugees and said no refugee should be forced to leave.

The interim government of Pakistan has issued a one month ultimatum for Afghan refugees to leave the country or else they would be forced to leave.

Safraz Bugti, acting interior minister of Pakistan, had claimed preparing the plan to evict illegal Afghans in coordination with the Afghan caretaker government, but Islamic Emirate (IE) spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called Pakistan's decision unacceptable.

Mujahid said in a statement: “The behavior of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable. The Pakistan side must reconsider its plan. The Afghan refugees are not involved in insecurity problems in Pakistan. As long as Afghan refugees return to their country voluntarily, the government of Pakistan should tolerate them.”

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, on Wednesday expressed his reaction during a press conference.

Dujarric said: “This is a worrying development, but I am sure that our colleagues at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are aware of this situation. As a principle, no refugee should be sent back to their country by force.”

The office of the UNHCR in Pakistan said no refugee should be sent back to their country by force, instead refugees should return voluntarily.

Before this, UNHCR spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi said the repatriation of refugees to their country must be voluntarily, without any pressure and violence, because the return of refugees should guarantee the protection of their lives and property.

“Pakistan has remained a generous refugee host for decades. The UNHCR acknowledges and appreciates this hospitality and generosity,” Afridi said.

“Any refugee return must be voluntary and without any pressure to ensure protection for those seeking safety,” he said. “Pakistan needs to show compassion for the most vulnerable.”

He told the BBC the people who had international support should not be included in Pakistan's forced deportation plan.

Some Pakistani officials claim Afghan citizens living in Pakistan are involved in recent security incidents and violence in the country.

But Zabihullah Mujahid rejected this claim.

On Thursday, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said the ongoing operation against illegal immigrants in the country was not targeted at any particular nationality.

Before the political change of August 15, some 2.7 million Afghan refugees were living in Pakistan while 1.7 of them were registered and 880,000 other Afghans were working in that country.

According to Pakistani authorities, some other refugees were living illegally in that country. The figures of Pakistani authorities show 600,000 Afghans left Afghanistan for Pakistan since August of 2021 and according to them, there are 1.7 million Afghans living in that country illegally.

aw/ma