Pakistan deports about 60,000 Afghan refugees

Pakistan deports about 60,000 Afghan refugees

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that Pakistan has deported about 60,000 Afghan refugees through two border points in the last 13 days.

The IOM disclosed this in a statement in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Between April 1 and 13, IOM recorded a sharp rise in forced returns, with nearly 60,000 individuals crossing back into Afghanistan through the Tokham and Spin Boldak border points,” the statement read.

The agency added that more than 2.43 million undocumented Afghan migrants have returned to their homeland, Afghanistan, from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran since September 2023.

It added that most of them were repatriated forcibly.

The Pakistani government is set to deport three million Afghans to their home country in 2025.

Reportedly, about 7 million Afghan refugees, most of whom are undocumented migrants, are currently living abroad, with most living in Afghanistan’s neighbours – Pakistan and Iran.

Source: Ripples Nigeria