Pakistan says ‘we decide who stays,’ after UN plea over Afghans

Pakistan’s government on Friday said “we decide who stays,” after the United Nations refugee chief urged the country to pause its mass expulsion of Afghans after a major earthquake.

Thousands of Afghans who were registered as refugees have surged over the border from Pakistan in recent days, with returns escalating despite a weekend earthquake that killed 2,200 people and flattened entire villages in Afghanistan.

It prompted a call by Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees: “Given the circumstances, I appeal to the (government of Pakistan) to pause the implementation of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.”

Pakistan has hosted Afghans fleeing violence and humanitarian crises for more than four decades, from the Soviet invasion to the 2021 Taliban takeover.

“Any people with no documentation should leave. This is what Pakistan is doing and what any other country will be doing, including in Europe and other countries… it is our territory, we decide who stays in,” Shafqat Ali Khan, the foreign ministry spokesperson told a press briefing.

The World Health Organization estimated 270,000 returnees have recently settled in the earthquake affected districts which border Pakistan.

Afghans awaiting relocation to Germany have reported several police raids on guest houses where German authorities have asked them to stay for months on end while their cases are processed.

Many of those living in the quake-hit villages in eastern Afghanistan were among the more than four million Afghans forced back to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years.

Various cohorts of Afghans have found differing degrees of stability, including access to work and education, in Pakistan.

Some were born and raised there, while others transited en route to resettlement in the West.

However, Pakistan’s government, citing an uptick in violent attacks and insurgent campaigns, launched a crackdown in 2023 to evict them, painting the population as “terrorists and criminals.”

More than 1.2 million Afghans have since been forced to return from Pakistan, including more than 443,000 this year alone, according to the United Nations.

The crackdown has most recently targeted an estimated 1.3 million refugees with Proof of Registration (PoR) cards issued by the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Islamabad has set a deadline of September 1 for them to leave or face arrest and deportation.