INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
As November 1 deadline approaches, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday called on the
Pakistani government to &suspend forcible returns of Afghan nationals before it is too late to avoid a human rights catastrophe&.&We call on
them to continue providing protection to those in need and ensure that any future returns are safe, dignified and voluntary, and fully
consistent with international law,& OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.&We believe many of those facing
deportation will be at grave risk of human rights violations if returned to Afghanistan, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture,
cruel and other inhuman treatment, spokesperson said.She said, &We are extremely alarmed by Pakistan&s announcement that it plans to deport
‘undocumented& foreign nationals remaining in the country after Nov 1, a measure that will disproportionately impact more than 1.4
million undocumented Afghans who remain in Pakistan.&There are more than two million undocumented Afghans living in Pakistan, with at least
600,000 of them leaving Afghanistan after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) takeover in August 2021.&Those at particular risk are
civil society activists, journalists, human rights defenders, former government officials and security force members, and of course women
and girls as a whole, who, as a result of the abhorrent policies currently in place in Afghanistan, are banned from secondary and tertiary
education, working in many sectors and other aspects of daily and public life,& she said.The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the International
Organisation for Migration (IOM) have already documented a sharp increase in returns to Afghanistan since the deadline was announced on
A recent flash report by UNHCR and IOM placed the number of Afghans who left Pakistan in the month up to Oct 15 at 59,780
individuals.Seventy-eight per cent of those returning cited the fear of arrest as the reason for leaving Pakistan.The spokesperson stated
that deportations without individualised determinations of personal circumstances, including any mass deportations, would amount to
refoulement in violation of international human rights law, in particular the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, to which Pakistan is a state party, and of international refugee law.And as winter approaches, any mass
deportations are bound to deepen the dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, as it grapples with the devastating impact of a series of
earthquakes that struck Herat province this month, leaving at least 1,400 people dead and 1,800 injured, as per official figures,
spokesperson said.According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, close to 30 million people
currently need relief assistance in Afghanistan, out of a population of 43 million, and 3.3 million are internally displaced.&We remind the
de facto authorities of the international human rights obligations that continue to bind Afghanistan as a state and their obligations to
protect, promote and fulfil human rights.& OHCHR spokesperson said.The post UN rights office urges Pakistan to halt Afghan deportations
first appeared on Ariana News.
