migration
UN: Half a million Afghans have left Pakistan
United Nations experts have called on the Pakistani government to protect Afghan refugees in their country. photo
© Ebrahim Noroozi/AP/dpa
The Pakistani government announced at the beginning of October that it would deport refugees without residence status. Many people have already left for Afghanistan.
Since the announcement of the mass deportations of unregistered refugees According to the United Nations, around half a million Afghans have left Pakistan. The UN emergency relief agency OCHA said the majority returned to Afghanistan in October and November.
The main reason is harassment by authorities. According to OCHA, more than 60 percent of returnees are under 18 years old. Figures from the organization also show that border crossings towards Afghanistan have now fallen sharply again.
The Pakistani government announced at the beginning of October that it would deport refugees without residence status and gave them a deadline of November 1st to leave the country voluntarily. The measure is primarily aimed at Afghans from the neighboring country ruled by the Taliban, who make up the largest proportion of irregular migrants in Pakistan. According to government figures, around 4.4 million Afghan refugees were living in the country at the time of the announcement, 1.7 million of them without valid documents.
In view of the prevailing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, aid organizations had warned of difficult conditions for returnees and called for greater support for returning families.