3 UN Officials Urge Pakistan To Stop Mass Deportation of Afghans

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, and three other UN officials called on the Pakistani government to immediately stop the process of deportation of more than one million Afghan refugees.

In addition to Bennett, Felipe González Morales, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, and Reem Alsalem, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Children are signatories to the statement.

In their statement published on the website of the United Nations Human Rights Council, they stated, "We are also concerned by reports that Afghans living in Pakistan have been subjected to arrests, exploitation and undignified treatment since Pakistan announced its repatriation plans."

The statement also added that many Afghan immigrants in Pakistan have sought refuge in Pakistan due to serious human rights concerns, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and the imperative need to secure their lives.

Despite the concern of the United Nations and Pakistani and international human rights groups, the country’s government has announced that it will implement the plan to deport Afghan immigrants without legal documentation.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani military also said that it supports the deportation of Afghan migrants without legal documentation. Pakistani authorities have cited the alleged involvement of Afghan fighters in terrorist attacks within Pakistan as a justification for deporting these immigrants.

The Pakistani government have asked the immigrants to leave the country in less than two weeks.

The Taliban's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced that more than 500 families of Afghan migrants returned to the country in just one day.

UN special rapporteurs have urged the international community and member states to continue to facilitate and support the safe resettlement of at-risk Afghans in other countries.