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Pakistan Rejects UN Call to Halt Afghan Refugee Repatriation Amid Earthquake Crisis

By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has rejected a UN appeal to pause the repatriation of undocumented Afghan refugees following the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan earlier this week.

The appeal was made by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who on X (formerly Twitter) urged Islamabad to suspend its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan, citing the humanitarian emergency that has affected more than 500,000 people in Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

“Especially given the circumstances, I appeal to the Government of Pakistan to pause the implementation of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” Grandi wrote.

Responding to the appeal, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan defended Islamabad’s stance, stressing that no country has been more generous than Pakistan in hosting Afghans for over five decades.

“Regarding what the UN is saying, I’m not entirely familiar with the statement. But what we are doing in case of Afghans—no country has been as generous a host as Pakistan. It has been over 50 years almost now,” Khan said.

He added that undocumented Afghans would continue to be repatriated, noting that Pakistan’s approach is no different from practices in Europe and elsewhere.

“It is our territory; we decide who stays in. Similarly, any Afghan who wants to come is more than welcome with a valid visa. We have a very liberal visa regime for Afghan people,” Khan emphasized.