On Friday, the government of Pakistan said “we decide who remains”, after the head of the United Nations refugees urged the country to suspend its massive expulsion of the Afghans after a major earthquake.
Thousands of Afghans who have been registered as refugees have overcome the border of Pakistan in recent days, with growing yields despite a earthquake of a weekend which killed 2,200 people and flattened entire villages in Afghanistan.
He caused a growing Filippo call, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: “Given the circumstances, I appeal to (Government of Pakistan) to suspend the implementation of the repatriation plan of illegal foreigners.”
Learn more: The leader of the UN refugees urges Pakistan to suspend Afghan expulsions after the earthquake
Pakistan welcomed Afghans fleeing violence and humanitarian crises for more than four decades, from Soviet invasion to the Taliban takeover of 2021.
“Anyone without documentation should start. This is what Pakistan does and what any other country will do, including in Europe and other countries … It is our territory, we decide who remains,” said Shafqat Ali Khan, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a press conference.
The World Health Organization estimated that 270,000 returnees recently settled in districts affected by earthquakes that bordered Pakistan.
The Afghans awaiting moving to Germany reported several police raids on the guest houses where the German authorities asked them to stay months while their cases are treated.
Many of those who live in the villages struck by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan were one of the more than four million forced Afghans in the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years.
Different cohorts of Afghans have found different degrees of stability, including access to work and education, in Pakistan.
Also read: The third earthquake strikes South-East of Afghanistan after mortal tremors kill more than 2,200
Some were born and grew up there, while others transferred on the way to resettlement in the West.
However, the Pakistani government, citing an increase in violent attacks and insurgent campaigns, launched a repression in 2023 to expel them, painting the population as “terrorists and criminals”.
According to the United Nations, more than 1.2 million Afghans have since been forced to return from Pakistan, including more than 443,000 this year.
The repression recently targeted approximately 1.3 million refugees with proof registration cards (POR) published by the United Nations Agency for HCR refugees.
Islamabad has established a deadline of September 1 to leave or face arrest and expulsion.
