Richard Bennett: Pakistan Halt Deportation of Afghan Refugees Amid Earthquake Crisis

Photo: Pierre Albouy / UN Geneva (Flickr)

Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has called on Pakistan to stop the deportation of Afghan refugees following the deadly earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

On Tuesday (September 2), Bennett wrote in a post on the social platform X: “I urge Pakistan to at least suspend planned deportations of Afghans and focus on supporting humanitarian efforts in the region.”

He emphasized: “This would be a sign of a compassionate neighbor and is now an urgent priority.”

This request comes as the deadline for Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan expired two days ago. According to the Taliban’s Commission for Refugee Affairs, just yesterday more than 11,000 people returned to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s border crossings and nearly 5,000 more came back from Iran.

The United Nations has said that more than 2.3 million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran to Afghanistan so far this year. The crisis continues as Afghanistan is simultaneously facing the catastrophe of the eastern earthquake and a new wave of displacement and humanitarian needs.