Amnesty urges Pakistan to halt Afghan deportations

Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to revoke its controversial “Illegal Foreigner Repatriation Plan,” which primarily targets Afghan refugees.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the human rights watchdog called the forced expulsion of Afghan nationals, including refugees and asylum seekers, a violation of international human rights law.

With the March 31 deadline approaching, Amnesty strongly criticized Pakistan’s approach, stating that forcibly deporting vulnerable individuals disregards the principle of non-refoulement. The organization condemned the government’s rigid stance, warning that the move would exacerbate the suffering of those at risk.

The exact details of Pakistan’s repatriation plan remain undisclosed, but its implementation has coincided with a broader effort to wrongfully associate Afghan nationals with criminal activities. Amnesty argued that such actions contradict Pakistan’s previous commitments and ignore repeated appeals from human rights organizations to safeguard refugees’ rights.

Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, denounced the government’s narrative, saying that portraying Afghan refugees as a threat to Islamabad and Rawalpindi is misleading. She said that the community is being scapegoated despite decades of displacement and hardship.