UN agency urges Pakistan to halt expelling Afghans during winter

Asif Shahzad - Reuters - 22/11
The U.N. refugee agency on Wednesday urged Pakistan to halt deportation of undocumented Afghan refugees during the harsh winter season, as police continued to search homes and expel Afghanis who had not already left.
  • Pakistan should halt deportations as winter may be deadly- UNHCR
  • Vulnerable Afghan individuals should be identified -UNHCR
  • Police searching homes and expelling those who remain
  • Many Afghans go underground, fearing danger back home

ISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency on Wednesday urged Pakistan to halt deportation of undocumented Afghan refugees during the harsh winter season, as police continued to search homes and expel Afghanis who had not already left.

Islamabad last month announced it would expel over a million undocumented refugees, mostly Afghans, amid a row with Kabul over charges that it harbours anti-Pakistan militants.

Over 370,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan since Oct. 1.

"UNHCR is calling upon the government of Pakistan to halt these mass numbers of returns during this harsh season of winter because the cold in Afghanistan is really deadly and it can take lives," the agency's regional spokesman, Babar Baloch, told Reuters TV in an interview.

"We're talking about desperate women, children and men being on the move, ...
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