Bangkok, [21 May] – The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) today issued a strong call to the Government of Pakistan to immediately halt the mass deportation of Afghan nationals and to fulfil its international legal and human rights obligations by ensuring the protection and dignity of all refugees, irrespective of status, within its borders.
For over four decades, Pakistan has demonstrated commendable generosity in hosting Afghan refugees fleeing conflict and persecution. However, in a Statement issued by the regional network today, APRRN expresses grave concern over the recent actions threatening to forcibly return Afghan nationals, including women, children, journalists, artists, human rights defenders, and religious and ethnic minorities, to a country where their human rights would be at risk.
“Afghan women, men, and children who are enjoying their fundamental human rights by seeking protection in Pakistan should under no circumstances be forced to return against their will to Afghanistan, where their human rights, dignity, and lives may be at risk”, said Klaus Dik Nielsen, Co-Secretary General, APRRN
The forced return of refugees to Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime continues to carry out widespread human rights violations, is in clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement. Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.
Despite the 1993 Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Pakistan and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), most Afghan arrivals since 2021 remain undocumented and without access to protection mechanisms. Many face abuse, extortion, and unlawful detention at the hands of local authorities.
APRRN calls on the Government of Pakistan to take immediate and concrete steps, in addition to rigorously observing the principle of non-refoulement, the organisation urges the government to reinstate fair, effective and accessible asylum procedures, and end arbitrary detention and human rights violations against Afghan refugees.
APRRN further urges the international community and UN agencies to collaborate with Pakistan through increased funding, technical assistance, and refugee resettlement pledges. It also calls on the Taliban to provide documentation to returnees, and reverse bans on girls’ education, and end gender-based oppression.
For Media Inquiries, please contact our membership and communication officer at MSCO@aprrn.org or call Klaus Dik Nielsen on +66 61 3011 020, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)